The Conventual Church of St John in Valletta
It is gifted with many wonderful treasures donated by the Knights of St John
Many are the Maltese priests who have been ordained to priesthood at St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta, as was I. Of all the beautiful temples I have visited, I am certain that St John’s is the most beautiful, thus I thought it fitting to write a short article about this gem of a place.
St John’s was built in a Mannerist style, a style that developed between the years 1510 and 1520 in Rome and Florence. It was one that was liked by several European leaders. The architectural plans of St John’s were drawn up by the architect and engineer Gerolamo Cassar (1520-1586), who was already over 50 years old at the time and very experienced. Cassar had studied military engineering outside Malta, and his military influence is reflected strongly in the facade and towers of this cathedral.
The Knights already had a Conventual church in Vittoriosa, where they carried out their religious duties, however as the new city of Valletta was being built they deemed it necessary to build a new Conventual church here. Works started in 1572 and were completed in 1577. It was Grand Master La Cassiere (1502-1581) who personally covered most of the expenses related to the building of this church.
The church of St John is a special place of worship that has an important place in statal and religious activities.
The facade is decorated with an eight pointed cross of the order of the Knights underneath which is a bronze bust of Our Saviour made by Alessandro Algardi (1602 - 1654). Below the bust is a balcony from which the newly elected Grand Master would address the crowd for the first time, and a clock with three dials for telling the time, the day and the year.
The inside of the Co-Cathedral is c.a. 58 metres long, 36 metres wide and c.a 20 metres high. It is gifted with many wonderful treasures donated by the Knights of St John. The floor is covered with commemorative inlaid marble tombstones where many Knights, of Noble European descent who died between the 16 and 18th century, are buried. The tombs number around 400 and all have various depictions of fame, triumph, victory and death. They also bear ecclesiastical and profane symbols in vibrant colours and design.
The church has artistically engraved and gilt walls and columns on top of which is a stunning vaulted ceiling, adorned with beautiful paintings by Mattia Preti (1613-1699) depicting the birth, life and martyrdom of St John the Baptist, patron saint of the Order to whom the conventual church was dedicated.
The titular altar considered to be one of the most impressive altars of the Baroque era is a master piece designed and made in Rome by architect Giovanni Bat- tista Contini (1642-1723). It is endowed with lapis lazuli and other precious stones. In the apse is a majestic sculpture depicting the Baptism of Christ, a large marble monument by Giuseppe Maz- zuoli (1644-1725) on the design of the Maltese sculptor Melchiore Gafa (1635-1667). It has a gilt bronze Gloria made by the Sicilian bronzaro Giovanni Giardini (1646-1722).
There are various monuments of Grand Masters whose style competes with one another.
The church houses eight chapels all belonging to the different langues each having its own patron saint. In addition there is the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament dedicated to the Our Lady of Philermos.
The solid silver gates enclosing this chapel look like bronze to mislead Napoleon’s soldiers who would have stolen them. There is some speculation about this and it is believed that the Chapter of the Cathedral paid a sum of money to save the gates. Some treasures that were ransacked are said to have been carried on the French ship the Orient during the battle of the Nile.
Inside the chapel of St George we find the tombs of various Grand Masters such as Ramon Perellos (1697-1720) and Nicolas Cottoner (1668 – 1680). In the oratory the amazing work of art, the painting of The Beheading of St John can be found, painted by the artist Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571-1610) who came to Malta after he escaped from Rome after killing a man during an altercation. In addition the Oratory houses a decorative late 16th century organ.
In the crypt one finds the tomb of the Grand Master La Vallette and the English Knight Sir Oliver Starkey who was La Vallette’s secretary and remained in Malta after the removal of the English langue.
Another point of interest is that St John’s was consecrated on the 20th of February 1578 by Mons. Lodovico de Torres Archbishop of Monreale and became a CoCathedral by decree of Pope Pius VII in the year 1816.
Finally we must not fail to mention the Flemish tapestries which used to be hung on show in the nave between the feasts of the solemnity of Corpus Christi and St Peter and St Paul. These works of art were ordered from Judocos de Vos in Brussels based on the drawings of Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640) and Nicholas Poussin (1594-1665) consisting of 14 panels of different sizes.
These are just a few of the works of art found in St John’s Co-Cathedral making it a treasure of Baroque art and architetonic style.