Cathedrals and Churches in Malta

ST PAUL'S CATHEDRAL IN MDINA

This late 17th century masterpiece of Maltese architect Lorenzo Gafa’ lies on the site of a much earlier Norman church destroyed by a violent earthquake in 1693.  According to tradition, that church had been built on the site of the house of Publius, the Roman’s chief man on the islands who was converted to Christianity by St Paul in A.D. 60. The Cathedral had, however, been planned before the earthquake. The building is one of the finest designs by Lorenzo Gafa’.  Its imposing façade greets you abruptly as you emerge from Mdina’s narrow streets.  The building is topped by a magnificent dome, which dominates the skyline of Mdina. The dome, possibly one of Gafa’s greatest achievements, had a chequered history as a succession of painters tried to embellish its interior.  Today’s decoration dates from the 1950s. Gafa’ seems to have created in miniature a Cathedral almost as fine as Valletta’s St John’s, the Conventual Church of the Order.  The interior is fantastically ornate and possesses similarities to St John’s.  Here too you find great works by the Calabrian artist and Knight, Mattia Preti. The pavement also comprises marble-inlaid tombstones carrying  the coats of arms and inscriptions of the bishops of Mdina and other members of the Cathedral chapter.  Between the main altar and the apse is Preti’s monumental depiction of The Conversion of St Paul.  It was part of the original Norman church, and survived the earthquake.  A few other items remain from the old church: the 15th century Tuscan panel painting of the Madonna and Child, the font, the frescoes in the apse depicting St Paul’s Shipwreck and the old portal, made of carved Irish bog wood, which now serves as a door to the vestry. 
The façade is perhaps one of the most imposing yet harmonious of all Gafa`'s baroque churches and a lesson in the use of proportion. The Cathedral Museum nearby houses a rare collection of coins, silver plate, religious vestments and some woodcuts by the German artist Albert Dürer.