Co-Cathedral of St. John, Valletta, Malta

St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta, was built from 1572 to 1581 by Gerolamo Cassar, the military engineer brought in to fortify the island and direct the construction of the new city fort of Valletta. Consequently the exterior is a bit plain and functional, with a nice clock tower to show not only the time of day, but the day of the week and the day of the month.

St. John's Co-Cathedral

Clock/bell tower

The exterior has some statues and a fountain, but again nothing too ostentatious.

Fountain with lions

Pope Saint Pius V

The fountain

Once inside, however, the story changes. A century after Cassar's austere work came Italian artist Mattia Preti, who began the process of transforming the interior into a Baroque masterpiece.

The nave vault is decorated with scenes from the life of John the Baptist.

Nave from the entrance

Nave from the main altar

Fresco detail

The main altar is quite spectacular, with a silver relief of the Last Supper surrounded by representations of the four evangelists. The far wall has a large statue of John baptizing Jesus.

Main altar

Altar and Baptism

Flanking the main altar are two organs. The one on the right has a statue of Moses with the Ten Commandments in front of it.

Organ with Moses in front

The two side aisles have chapels dedicated to the Langues or countries that contributed knights to the Order of St. John. The front right chapel is the Chapel of Aragon, featuring the tombs of two of the order's grand masters, Nicolas Cotoner and Ramon Perellos.

Aragon Chapel

Some of the decor

Nicolas Cotoner tomb

Ramon Perellos Tomb

Even the floor stones are memorials to different knights. This stone has a quote from the Gospel of Matthew (5:21), "Give to the poor and you will build a treasure in Heaven."

Floor stone

The most prized painting in the church is Caravaggio's Beheading of John the Baptist. It originally was in the Chapel of Italy, but was moved for restoration and is now displayed in the Oratory, where pictures are not allowed.

The Beheading of St. John the Baptist (pic taken from Wikipedia), click to enlarge

The church is a conventual church, which means that it is part of a convent, in this case, the Knights of St. John. It is a co-cathedral because the bishop of Malta, who has his cathedral in Mdina, can use this as an alternate cathedral.

Random Bits of Valletta, Malta

Our first sight in Valletta was the Auberge de Castile et Leon. The auberges were a sort of headquarters for the eight different langues or nationalities represented by the Order of St. John. Each building had a chapel, dining hall, and accommodations. Richer knights could live outside the auberge but had to dine at least four times a week at the auberge. Only five buildings have survived to the present day and only two are open to the public. The Auberge de Castile et Leon is not open to the public since it now houses the prime minister's office. A statue of a prime minister is even across the street, presumably keeping an eye on things!

J by the prime minister's offices

PM Paul Boffa

Just behind the PM is a church called Our Lady of Victory. This church is the oldest building in Valletta, constructed to commemorate the successful defense of the Great Siege ending in 1565. Grand Master la Valette laid the foundation stone and asked to be buried there. His body was eventually moved to the Co-Cathedral where most of the other Maltese Grand Masters are buried.

Our Lady of Victory, Valletta

The streets of Valletta are compact but not crowded (at least not when we visited in February). They have a wide variety of shops but the strong Catholic identity of the island is obvious.

Market Street

A side street

Bespoke Communion and Confirmation suits!

Valletta is on a peninsula dividing the Grand Harbor from the Marsamxett Harbor. We saw a bit of the Grand Harbor side, including the view over to Fort St. Angelo and Fort Ricasoli.

Grand Harbor

More of the harbor

Fort Ricasoli

We even stood guard for a bit. We were watchful enough to see some maritime graffiti in the area.

J, Mommy and L

Ship-shape graffiti

Siege Bell/World War II Memorial, Valletta, Malta

Along the walls overlooking Valletta's harbor is an unassuming bell tower with a single bell inside. The bell was unveiled in 1992 by Queen Elizabeth II and the President of Malta as a tribute to the 8000 Maltese and British who died during the 1940-1942 Siege of Malta.

When the Axis powers opened up a new front in North Africa, the strategically important islands of Malta (which are between Sicily and North Africa but were at the time British possessions) became the target of a massive bombing campaign (3000 raids in two years). The Royal Air Force and the British Navy defended the island and held out until the Allied Forces landed in Morocco and Algeria in November 1942. The Axis powers redirected their focus to Northern Africa and Malta was soon able to join the Allied offensive.

Siege Bell, Valletta

Memorial plaques

The bell has a warning sign that it is rung at noon every day and people had best beware of the loud noise. We visited long after noon so we were okay.

The bell

Not the warning plaque

The siege bell overlooks the harbor in two directions, giving a view of one of the forts as well as the inner harbor.

Looking out into the Grand Harbor and the Mediterranean beyond

The end of the memorial area

By the inner harbor another statue has been erected in honor of those lost. The plaque says, "At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them" in English and Malti.

Statue

Side view of the statue

The statue's plaque

The Malta Experience and Sacra Infermeria, Valletta, Malta

The Malta Experience is a dramatic film that tells the history of the island from the ancient past (5000 BC) up to the modern day. We went because everyone from our bed and breakfast owner to the tourist information person and all our guide books said it was good. The film does give a comprehensive view of the history of Malta, a small chain of islands in between Sicily and North Africa. They are a natural stopping point for trade ships crossing the Mediterranean. As such, they've been visited/controlled by every naval power in the history of the Mediterranean, from the Phoenicians to the British. We enjoyed learning the history of the island.

My knight pal and your humble author

L with the knight

The ticket includes a tour of the Sacra Infermeria, the Holy Infirmary of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. Originally the knights were based in the Holy Land and provided medical care and hospitality to pilgrims of any faith. They were slowly driven west by Muslims attacking first the Holy Land and then Rhodes. They settled on Malta and built the largest hospital at the time.

A knight inside the Sacra Infermeria

The Long Hall on the main floor provided hundreds of beds for the sick. The hall is 155 meters long (170 yards) and is lined with small alcoves that were used as toilets by the patients.

The Long Hall

Where the toilets used to be

The care was the best in the world. In addition to the light and air the tall ceilings provided, the interior courtyard had a garden where the ambulatory ill could spend time. The Order also used silver plates and utensils since they were the easiest to clean and thought to be the safest. When Napoleon conquered Malta, he threw out both the knights and the patients but sold the silver to pay for his Egyptian campaign.

Upstairs also has a small chapel where services were held. Some of the sacred decorations, such as medallions of the evangelists at the base of the dome, are still visible.

Two evangelists by the dome

Where the altar was

Another ward is downstairs. After the British took over, the Infermeria was used as both a military hospital and as stables. The horses were kept in the downstairs hall (accessible by a long ramp). The building was converted into a conference center in 1979 and now the downstairs is used as a banqueting hall.

A fireplace downstairs

The hall underneath the Long Hall

Coats of Arms from the Grand Masters of the Knights cover the alcoves where the toilets used to be!

They also have a large theater (which has replaced the courtyard area) for concerts and another exhibit on the Knights Hospitallers which is available as a separate tour. One tour was plenty for us.