St John's Co Cathderal | St Paul's Shipwreck Church | Mosta Parish Church | Mdina Cathedral | The Sanctuary of Our Lady in Mellieha | The Collegiate Church of St Paul in Rabat | The Parish Church of St Lawrence in Vittoriosa
This was the
convent church of the Knights of the Order of St John. It
was designed by our Maltese architect Girolamo Cassar between the
years 1573 and 1577. The Knights of the Order of St John were
essentially a religious order. They took vows of poverty,
chastity and obedience. Before Valletta was built the Order of St
John lived in Vittoriosa and used the parish church of St
Lawrence as their convent church.
The facade of St John's Co Cathedral is more like a fort as Girolamo Cassar had helped with the planning of Valletta and he always had this thing in mind - defense. But from the inside St John's is a splendid baroque and, quite breath-taking to take in, after the severe exterior. Although the facade is not so impressive it has, albeit, some interesting features. On the right are three clocks - one shows the time, one shows the day of the week and the other shows the date. In the middle is a balcony with balustrades. From this balcony was announced the name of the newly-elected grand-master. It was customary for the grand-master to throw golden coins on the people who were waiting in the square for the news. Under the balcony are three coat of arms. One is of Grand Master La Cassiere, who paid for the building of the Cathedral, one is of Bishop Torres who opened the Cathedral and the third is the coat of arms of religion. The columns on the main door are Tuscan, therefore massive and impressive.
The main altar was covered in silver but Napoleon Bonaparte stole the silver. The candlesticks on the main altar and the lamp hanging in front of the main altar are both in solid silver. They were a present from one of the Grand Masters. It was customary that when a new Grand Master was elected he gave an expensive present to the Order. It was not easy to become a Knight of the Order of St John. First of all one had to have nobility for eight generations. Then one had to take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
The statue, depicting the Baptism of Christ by St John the Baptist behind the altar, was sculptured by the well-known artist Giuseppe Mazzuoli. The interesting fact about this statue is that, although one sees two figures, they are in fact hewn out of one big solid marble block. The vault of St John's was painted by the Italian artist Mattia Preti. The specialty of Mattia Preti was that he painted directly on prepared stone, that is to say he used the stone like he would use a canvas, by oiling it and then painting directly on to the stone. Many artists who painted in Churches painted on canvas and then stuck the canvas to the ceiling. Mattia Preti was known as the Cavalier from Calabria as he had already joined the order before he came to Malta. The vault is divided into six sections and each section has three pictures depicting episodes in the life of the patron saint of the Order St John the Baptist. At the back opposite the main altar is a picture also by Mattia Preti showing the various duties of the order that is to help the sick, poor and wounded in times of peace and war, irrespective of race or religion. On either side of each window is a figure and at the back of each figure is a shadow. That is indeed no shadow but was also painted by Mattia Preti. The shadows are so perfectly done, that they look like refracted light. But if one had to go in the evening the shadows would still be there. The decorations on the wall were all paid for by the two Cottoner brothers Raphael Cottoner and Nicholas Cottoner. These brothers were both grand-masters. In fact on the left hand side of the church one can see the monograms RC and NC.
St John's Co Cathedral has 375 graves. The gravestones, all in marble, show the knights and grand-masters that are buried in this cathedral. The only exception who is buried here is Mattia Preti. Mattia Preti remained here in Malta till he died in 1699. He spent five long years making this church beautiful so it was only fitting that he be buried in the church which he loved so much. On the top of each column is a plain white cross on a red background as, when the Order was formed, it adopted the Benedictine habit, which is a white cross on a red background - the cross of peace on the blood-stained fields of war. The eight-pointed cross, now known as the Maltese cross, came much later. Some historians say that the eight points signify the eight lands where the Knights of St John came from, while other historians say that, being a Religious Order, the four triangles are the four virtues and the eight points are the beatitudes coming out of the four virtues.
St John's Co Cathedral has nine chapels - four on the right and five on the left.
Starting with the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament -on the top right-hand side. The gates here are made of solid silver and, the icon of the Madonna above the tabernacle (in solid silver too), represents the Madonna of Philermos and it was brought to St John's from the St Catherine of Italy chapel.
The next chapel belongs to one of the French languages Auvergne. It is dedicated to St Sebastian one of the early Christian martyrs. Here there is only one monument and it is dedicated to Grandmaster Annet de Clermont de Chattes - Gessan. His rule lasted only five months as then he died.
The next chapel is dedicated to Aragon, the Spanish language. Here is another picture by Mattia Preti. When the Knights of the Order of St John wanted to know what Mattia Preti could do they asked him to send over a painting before they commissioned him to do the vault. He sent this picture of St George on a white horse. They liked what they saw and commissioned Mattia Preti to paint the vault of St John's Co Cathedral. In this chapel are four beautiful monuments to four Spanish grand-masters - Raphael Cottoner and his brother Nicholas, Martin DeRedin and a magnificent monument by Giuseppe Mazzuoli to Grand Master Perellos, who was a prince.
The last chapel on the right-hand side belongs to the language of Castile and Leon, the Portuguese language. All the pictures in this chapel are by Mattia Preti. Here there are two fine monuments dedicated to two Portuguese grandmasters - Manoel Pinto and Manoel de Vilhena.
On the other side, on the top left hand side is the Anglo-Bavarian chapel. When King Henry VIII quarreled with the Pope. King Henry disbanded the knights and took all their property. When they managed to join the order again, they joined to the Bavarian league - hence the Anglo-Bavarian chapel. This chapel is dedicated to St Charles Borromeo. The gates here, made of bronze, were once the gates to the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. The next chapel is the chapel dedicated to the language of Province. It is dedicated to St Michael. The lunette here is by an unknown German artist, probably Lucas Killian. Here we have two monuments dedicated to two grandmasters from the region of Province - Jean Lascaris and Antoine de Paule. In this chapel from the top one can see the crypt which is no longer open to the public. Amongst other Grand masters is buried here Grand Master Jean Parisot de la Vallette, the grandmaster who was responsible for building Valletta.
Further down on the left is the chapel dedicated to the French language and to the Conversion of St Paul. Here there are three monuments of three French grand masters Adrien Wignacourt and Joachim Wignacourt and an impressive mausoleum dedicated to Emanuel de Rohan. In this chapel is a very beautiful monument. It is the only monument which has nothing to do with the order. It is dedicated to the Vicount of Beaujolais. He was the brother of king Louis Philippe. He was in Malta on holiday with his brother in 1808 and whilst on holiday he died. Being a person of royal birth, a beautiful monument was erected in his honor in the chapel for the French language.
The chapel before the last on the left hand side is the chapel dedicated to the Italian Language. This chapel is dedicated to the mystical marriage of St Catherine. Here there is only one monument of one Italian grandmaster - Gregorio Carafa. In this chapel there is also find one of the paintings by the well-known artist Caravaggio - the St Jerome. This painting was stolen some years back. The thieves threatened to tear it up if they did not get the ransom. It was found some years later badly damaged. It was sent to Rome to be restored and now hangs where it was before.
The last chapel on the left is dedicated to the German language. This is also dedicated to the feast of the three kings - the Epiphany. Here there are no monuments dedicated to grandmasters. The reason being that the last and only German grandmaster was Ferdinand Von Hompesch and his reign lasted only one year, as then in 1798, Napoleon came to Malta and the Knights went back to their countries of origin. Hompesch died in Montpelier. Ironic but true, this was the only chapel in St John's to be bombarded and hit by the Luftwaffe. They hit just their own chapel and it was restored after the war.
Of great interest in St John's Co Cathedral is the Oratorium. Here is where the Beheading of St John by Caravaggio is. This is the only picture which is signed by Caravaggio. This was discovered some years back when the picture was sent to be restored in Rome. This picture is five by three meters in size. Mattia Preti painted the pictures in the Oratorium, around the picture of Caravaggio, to harmonize with it. Caravaggio came to Malta in 1606 probably serving a penal sentence on one of the Order's galleys. He found favor with the Order and in the Oratorium itself he was allowed to join this elite Order. He was very proud of the fact so much so that the beheading of St John is the only one signed by Caravaggio. There is an 'F' in the blood coming out of the blood of the head of St John. He signed 'F' because being a religious order they called each other Frate, which means brother. Caravaggio was not his real name. His real name was Michelangelo Merisi or Merissi from Caravaggio, which is a little town outside Milan, where he was born. His father was an architect and he was not poor either like many people think. Caravaggio came after the Renaissance, where everything had to be perfect and everyone had to be beautiful and well-clad. This, Caravaggio felt, did not show the real soul of the artist. Once, the Church asked Caravaggio to paint a Madonna. When he finished the painting the Church would not accept it. They said the Madonna has no decorum as she is not wearing any sandals and besides he used prostitutes for his models. But Caravaggio was not perturbed he said 'It does not matter if the Church does not want my painting. I shall put it on the streets and let the people decide for themselves'. The people just went wild about his paintings. Caravaggio also started what in Italian is known as 'luce di cantina' that is 'the light of the cellars'. This means he uses a strong light to focus the main point or points and all the picture is built round this light. Caravaggio built three paintings while he was in Malta. These are the St Jerome in the Cathedral, the Beheading in the Oratorium and a portrait of grand master Olaf de Wignacourt in his gold-embossed armor. The armor is in the armory in The Grandmasters Palace in Valletta, while the portrait is in the Louvre in Paris. Being a bit of a wild type Caravaggio soon got himself into trouble. He was imprisoned in Fort St Angelo, sent away from the Order in the very Oratorium where he was enrolled into it, and it is said with the help of a knight he managed to escape from Fort St Angelo. On his way to Rome at the age of only 39 years he died. We are very lucky that Caravaggio came to Malta, as Caravaggio is a very big name in the world of art. He stayed in Malta one and a half years.
Also of great interest in St John's is the museum where, amongst other things, there are 29 tapestries which were a present from Grandmaster Perellos.
This church is situated in St Paul's Street in Valletta. The first church was built in 1609. Grandmaster Lascaris had paid for the building of the church. The facade in Baroque style was finished in 1885. It has two belfries and seven bells. The decorations were done by the Maltese sculptor Antonio Busuttil. Under the belfries are two statues - Saints Peter and Paul. Both were done by Vincenzo de Candia. In the middle is a statue of Our Lady. The Frescoes of the vault and also the pictures in the apses and choir are all the work of the Roman painter Attilio Palombi. The pictures in the vault show episodes in the life of St Paul. The organ dates back to the 17th century and is one of the oldest organs in Malta. Here are approximately forty grave-stones. They are made of marble and mosaic. The church has eight chapels, four on the right and four on the left. This church is rich in silver, with silver altar facades, candlesticks and lamps which were given to the church over the years. The treasures in this church cannot be compared with any other church in Malta. In the sacristy is a portrait of Grandmaster Manoel de Vilhena by Antoine de Favray. Other portraits are of Grandmasters and Popes which had something to do with the history of the church.
This church
was built between 1827 and 1865. It was designed by Maltese
architect Giorgio Grognet de Vasse. This church was built round a
much smaller and simpler church as the town of Mosta grew larger.
The people of Mosta, who at the time numbered 3000 inhabitants,
built the church themselves and paid for it out of their own
pockets. The specialty of this church is, undoubtedly, its dome.
It has the third largest unsupported dome in Europe after the
Vatican in Rome and St Sophia in Istanbul. This church is
dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven and
celebrates its feast on the 15th August. This church is known as
the Rotunda because of its round shape. All the paintings are the
work of Maltese artists. The people of Mosta maintain that in
this church there is enough space for 1000 people seated and
10000 people standing. In the sacristy, which is open to the
public as well, one can see a replica of a bomb (the original one
was thrown in the sea to explode) which fell through the dome
without exploding during the second world war. Mosta has grown
into one of our larger towns and now has a population of 12,000
people. The Parish Church of Mosta also boasts a very solemn Good
Friday procession, when not only one statue is carried through
the streets, but seven statues showing various episodes in the
passion of Christ.
The Mdina
Cathedral is the real cathedral of Malta. Although we have St
John's Co Cathedral, a diocese can only have one cathedral. St
John's is called co-cathedral, because when the Knights of the
Order of St John built their convent church they wanted to raise
it to the status of a Cathedral. As two of the grandmasters later
became popes they were granted this privilege and called their
convent-church co-cathedral. In 1693 Mdina was hit by a severe
earthquake and the cathedral which before was in an
Apullian-Romanesque style was practically totally destroyed. When
it was re-built between 1697 and 1702 it was built in Baroque
style. Before the earthquake there was no square in front of the
Cathedral but only a narrow street, like many of the streets one
sees in Mdina. The square was opened in front of the cathedral to
give the cathedral a more impressive facade, as baroque is always
a dramatic style.
The cathedral has two elegant belfries and six bells. On the top of the main door are three coat-of-arms. One belongs to Grandmaster Perellos, who paid for the building of the Cathedral, one is the coat-of-arms of Mdina and the last one is the coat-of-arms of the Bishop Torres, who opened the Cathedral. The only part of the cathedral, which survived the earthquake is the part behind the altar in the apses. There one can admire a beautiful painting by Mattia Preti, depicting the shipwreck of St Paul. The choir stalls behind the altar are very intricately carved and date back to the 16th century. From the 16th century is also the Baptismal Font at the back, with marble underneath and beautifully-carved wood on top. The grave-stones here are another work of art in themselves and show the bishops and noble families that are buried in the cathedral. In the Cathedral one can admire several beautiful monuments, of some important people who are buried here. The vault of the cathedral was painted by two Italian brothers by the name of Francesco and Antonio Manno. The pictures depict episodes from the life of St Paul, to whom the Cathedral is dedicated. The dome, probably one of the most elegant on the island, was painted by another Italian artist by the name of Gallucci. A few years ago the vault and dome were restored by a certain Samuel Bugeja from Sliema and he did a very fine job indeed. The Cathedral like most churches in Malta is in the shape of a Latin cross. On the left aisle, just before coming to the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, one can still admire the original door of the Cathedral, which also survived the earthquake. It is a very fine specimen of a door made of wood brought from the Irish bogs. It is intricately carved and almost looks like bronze. As one moves on to the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament top left, one can admire the tabernacle made in solid silver and the work of the well-known Italian artist Benvenuto Cellini. The icon of the Madonna above the tabernacle is attributed to St Luke. St Luke had suffered shipwreck along with St Paul in 60 AD according to the Acts of the Apostles in the Bible. St Luke was both a doctor and an artist. The flooring of the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament and of the chapel of the Holy Crucifix on the right-hand side have beautifully designed marble flooring, matching the ceiling and the beautiful wooden gates - the work of Felic Zahra a Maltese craftsman. The lamps are Venetian and the Organ is French. It is 300 years old and is still played to this very day. This church boasts very good acoustics. So does the square in front of the Cathedral and in summer when concerts are given in the open right in front of the Cathedral, the atmosphere is very impressive. This, of course, is just a very brief write-up of what one can admire in the Cathedral.
According to records this is the oldest sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady. This sanctuary has always been popular with locals and foreigners alike. This could be due to the fact that according to tradition the apostles Paul and Luke had visited this sanctuary. Moreover, the picture of Our Lady is the oldest painted Madonna that still survives.
In 871AD the Arabs attacked the Island of Malta. During the Arab Rule many people suffered because of their religion. This church was not closed during the Arab Rule and many people could probably come here to pray. When Roger the Norman came to Malta in 1090, everything was quickly changed. One could now practise one's religion in the open. It was not only the Maltese, who visited this sanctuary, even the King of Sicily came here. Later the Knights of the Order of St John visited this sanctuary regularly. In 1857 Bishop Gargallo ordered two monks to paint the Madonna once again as the picture was in a very poor condition and this is how the original painting was discovered. In 1614 the Turks came up Mellieha Bay. They came to this Sanctuary and tried to destroy the icon. The statues and the icon were badly damaged. Immediately many pilgrims came here to pray. The shrine was once more re-painted. The main altar was decorated with sculptures and columns and the icon was covered in a coating of silver. The main door was later erected by a group of pilgrims. On top of the main door the following was put up: 'In You our fathers had put their trust and You delivered them'.
In the 19th century the chapel was enlarged. In 1973 during the restoration of the icon the original authentic effigy of the Madonna with a child was unexpectedly discovered. The icon has beautiful light color and dominates the whole church. The icon in this Shrine has long been worshipped. The pictures in the sacristy narrate the long history of marvelous graces obtained.
This church, dedicated to St Paul, is situated in the suburb of Mdina, Malta's old capital, Rabat. It was built to the left of the cave known as St Paul's grotto and right outside the walls of the old capital. It was therefore known as 'San Paolo fuor le Mura' like in Italy, which means 'St Paul outside the walls'.
The earliest records of this church date back to 1372. It was dedicated to St Paul, because according to tradition St Paul prayed for three months in the grotto under the church, while trying to convert the Maltese to Christianity, when he was shipwrecked in Malta in 60 AD.
The St Paul's grotto just beneath the church has a little legend to it. It says that the stones of the grotto could heal snake bites and fever. The legend goes further and says that every stone that is broken from the grotto grows again so the grotto remains always the same size.
From the grotto one can see a very small section of St Paul's Catacombs. But, as the St Paul's Catacombs belong to the State, whilst the Grotto belongs to the church authorities, these catacombs were separated and now only a very small part of the catacombs are still visible from the grotto.
Under the main church of St Paul are two small chapels. It is said that it is here that the first two Sacraments were held. Publius the Governor of the Islands at the time, was baptized and also consecrated bishop of Malta. Before, the place where these chapels are, was used as a prison by the Romans. One can still see the loops in the ceiling which were used to hang chains and ropes for persecution.
This is the oldest church in Malta. It is said that it was a gift from Count Roger the Norman, when he came to Malta in 1090. In its present style it was built in the 17th century and designed by the Maltese architect Lorenzo Gafa, who also designed the Cathedral in Mdina and the Cathedral in Gozo.
The Knights of the Order of St John used the parish church of St Lawrence as their Convent Church. One must remember that Valletta was not yet built when the Knights came to Malta in 1530. The Knights of the Order of St John did not settle in Mdina, the old capital, as by now they had organized themselves into a military order and they wanted to be close to their ships. Mdina was too far away from the harbor. This church is built in Baroque style and is in the shape of a Latin cross. The columns are of a very beautiful pinkish colored marble and on each column one can see the eight-pointed cross. The titular painting depicts the martrydom of St Lawrence and was painted by Mattia Preti.
The feast of St Lawrence is celebrated in August. The statue which is carried shoulder high through the streets of Vittoriosa is made of silver.