The gçonnella (; ), sometimes referred to as a faldetta, is a form of women's head dress and shawl, or hooded cloak, unique to the Mediterranean islands of Malta and Gozo. There was an alternative blue version in the south-east of Malta, and it was referred to as xurqana. Another in the village of Gçargçur was referred to as stamijna.
It is generally made of cotton or silk, and usually black or some other dark colour, although from the sixteenth century onwards, noble women and women from wealthier households frequently wore white or brightly coloured gçenienel. The gçonnella covered the head, and framed but did not cover the face. The upper part of the gçonnella is starched quite stiffly, and given a broad, rounded frame, formed by means of a board, cane, or whalebone.
From a practical perspective, this broad bonnet captured much needed cooling breezes during the hot Maltese summer. On cooler days, the wearer could wrap the gçonnella around her face more tightly, by making a slight adjustment. The lower part of the gçonnella could be worn loosely draped around the wearer's bodice and hips, or more tightly wrapped in the case of inclement weather. It would typically fall to mid-calf length. While walking, the wearer would hold one or both sides of the gçonnella clasped in her right hand.
The origins of the gçonnella are ultimately unclear; it has been described as a "western garment, worn in an eastern fashion." Maltese historians Ciantar and Abela were of the view that the gçonnella had evolved from traditional Sicilian dress:
According to local legend, the gçonnella was first introduced to Malta in 1224 as a sign of mourning by the women of Celano in the Abruzzi region of Italy, who were said to have been expelled - first to Sicily, and then to Malta - by Enrico de Morra, acting on the orders of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, following the massacre of their husbands. There is some historical evidence of this event recorded in the chronicles of Riccardo di San Germano:
An alternate legend, which plays on the similarity between the Faldetta and a traditional nun's habit, suggests that the women of Malta adopted this costume in 1798, to ward off the unwanted advances of Napoleon Bonaparte's troops. However, this theory was dismissed as a fairy tale in a National Geographic essay about Malta (1935).
According to yet another legend, the gçonnella developed due to the strict Canonical requirement (pre-Vatican Council II) that women veil their head before entering a Catholic church. It is said that poorer country girls, who could not afford a cloak or shawl, met the veiling requirement by placing a spare skirt over their head, which gradually evolved into the gçonnella. Others speculate that it is a vernacular modification of the eastern veil, even a local variation of the Spanish mantilla. Drawing upon this angle related to Moorish Spain, folklore even suggests some fancied at least partial Moorish origin when Malta was occupied by the Muslim Aghlabids, such as relation to the khimar (a loose type of hijab).
There are references to the gçonnella in the early records of the Knights of St. John (Order of Malta), and in eighteenth century travel books. Louis De Boiseglin, historian of the Knights of Malta wrote as follows:
Victorian illustrator and traveller, William Henry Bartlett, was clearly intrigued by the Faldetta, describing it as follows in 1851:
For centuries, the gçonnella was ubiquitous throughout Malta, worn by virtually all adult Maltese women.
It was so popular that there were a number of seamstresses whose sole job was to design, cut and sew gçenienel.
However, it rapidly fell into disuse in the 1940s and 1950s, following World War II. By the 1970s, it was rarely seen, except among the older members of the Maltese lay missionary movement, the Societas Doctrinæ Christianæ (M.U.S.E.U.M.). The gçonnella completely disappeared by the end of the 20th century; one of the last known women to wear it was ÃÂensa Vella from Victoria, Gozo, who wore the garment until early 1991.
The hooded garment occupied a lot of relative space, and for this reason it became impractical to wear on Maltese public buses.