Churches, Valletta

After the besieging Turks were chased off the peninsula, the Knights of St. John hurried to consecrate the first stone of their new capital: Valletta. The ceremony for the laying of this stone was held at this spot and the church was subsequently built on top. It was Valletta's first church. Later the Grand Master of La Valette was buried here.

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Easily the most outstanding feature of Valletta's skyline is the dome of the Carmelite Church. It was Valletta's first church, built in 1570, but has been damaged many times since. The greatest damage came during World War 2, and Axis bombs forced the reconstruction of the magnificent 62 meter high dome.

Inside the Carmelite church is less spectacular, especially when compared to the Co-Cathedral nearby. The interior of the dome, however, is impressive and covers the atrium and altar.

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Malta is a thoroughly Catholic country, but it was for a long time a part of the British Empire. So it was that a British monarch, Queen Adelaide, decided to build an Anglican cathedral here. Being as the Church of England is thoroughly Protestant, there isn't a great deal of use for it in Malta, but its very British spire stands out as one of the two iconic features of Valletta's skyline, along with the dome of the Carmelite church.

St Barbara’s Church was built in 1573 for the Knights of the Auberge of Provence, which is just across the road. This quite small Church was rebuilt in1739, and in 1904, a statue of the Virgin Mary was placed in the facade of the church. The Statue was placed there to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception. It is the parish church for English, French and German speaking Maltese residents.

Our Lady of Victory Church was the first church to be built in Valletta by the Order of St John.
Initially, this Church was dedicated to the Nativity of Our lady but later was dedicated to Our Lady of Victory, to commemorate the end of the Great Siege.
The founder of the city, Grand Master La Vallette, was buried here, but his remains were later transferred to the Cathedral. Our Lady of Victory Church was rebuilt in its baroque architectural style in the mid-18th century.

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As I walked along the waterfront, I nearly missed this little Chapel, you would hardly know it's there. All that gave it away for me, was the different coloured door [white] and designs. It was nestled in amongst the Grand Harbour waterfront shops. The style of the façade is baroque, and has two bell towers, imposing cornices and baroque detailing.
The Chapel was constructed under the reign of Grand Master Pinto in the 1750s, and was used by departing and arriving sailors. In this historic area, it is easy to stand here and imagine the crews of the galleons of the "Knights of St. John", and the many international seafarers and merchants coming here to worship.

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St. Publius was the 1st Governor of Malta and it's believed he was consecrated first Bishop of Malta.
It was in 60AD, during the Roman period he was converted to Christianity.
The people of Floriana, Valletta, chose Publius as their patron saint and dedicated to him their parish church.
The first stone was laid in 1733, but during to lack of funds, work on the structure was delayed until 1792, when the nave was completed and the building was then consecrated as a vice-parish church. More additions were made later, and after the war. The statue of St. Publius, is carried in procession during the annual feast day, dating from 1815.

I actually came across this Church by chance, and even though I couldn't go inside, I was impressed with what I saw.
The temple fronts Granaries Square which is the venue of religious congregations and other gatherings of a social and political nature.

Worth seeing!

St. Paul's Anglican Cathedral is the other cathedral of La Valletta and it is also the first Protestant church built in Malta. It took 6 years and the suicide of one of the architects to build this cathedral, and it was completed only in Cathedral 1844 – the Bishop of Gibraltar consecrated it the same year.

The cathedral can accommodate 1500 people and the pointed steeple, which you can see lit up at night from far away, is the 65 metres high. A curiosity: for some obscure reason this building falls under the jurisdiction of the Anglican See of Gibraltar.

My two first impressions of La Valletta, seen from across the harbor in Sliema, were the protective walls that surround it completely and the large dome belonging Carmelite church that dominates the skyline. Imagine my displeasure when I found out that the dome did not belong to any significant building, especially the cathedral.

This church was built in 1573, then it was heavily damaged in World War II and rebuilt. This time it was also enlarged and the dome was added: and guess what? It is just a bit higher than the nearby of St Paul's Anglican Cathedra’s spire

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Our Lady of Victory is a special church because it was the first one to be built in la Valletta. The place where it stands is very symbolic: it’s where the first stone of the new city was set on 28 March 1566, after having defeated the Turks during the 'Great Siege' of 1565. The Grand Master Jean Parisot de Vallette was originally buried in this church before being moved to St John's Co-Cathedral.

Initially, however, it was not a church but a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Victory, it was only in the 18th century that the building was enlarged, a belfry added, and it became a church.