St Paul’s cathedral, Malta

The republic of Malta is a southern European country with even ahs its own archipelago. The archipelago is in the Mediterranean. Sicily lies to the north; Tunisia lies to the west, the Gibraltar strait to the west and Alexandria to the east.

Malta is one of Europe’s most populated countries. Maltese is the official language here.

Malta has always had huge historical importance. Through the years, the Phoenicians, the Greeks, Romans, Sicilians, knights of john, the French and the British have all ruled the lands.

Malta got its independence from Britain and became a republic in 1974. It still has retained its membership as part of the commonwealth nations.

Malta has a long Christian legacy and according to the Acts of the Apostles and is an apostolic see.

Malta is known for its world heritage sites and one of its most popular ones is the megalithic temples. These are some of the oldest standing structures in Europe.

The St. Pauls cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral which is located in the city of mdina in Malta.

The site chose is because, when the governor publius met st Paul, this was followed by his ship getting wrecked off the maltase coast

When the church was first built, it was dedicated to the blessed virgin marry.  Later on when the Muslims took over the region, the site was rebuilt after the Norman conquest and was eventually re dedicated to st Paul… following that the church has been expanded and modified many times.

Lorenzo gafa was the original architect of the building.  . Built during the late sixteen hundreds to replace an already existing normal cathedral which was destroyed by an earthquake.

Even though these sites suffered an earthquake, a lot of its ruins, artifacts and paintings survived.  These included paintings that were made by mattia preti. This painting depicts the conversion of Saint Paul. Also there is a fifteenth century Tuscan painting which depicts Madonna and the child.

The baroque designed cathedral sits at the end of the rectangular square. The façade is divided into three bays.  The first bay is the Corinthian order of the pilasters.

At both the corners there are two bell towers.  There is a vaulted nave, tow aisles and two small chapels at the side.

The cathedral has a large octagonal dome which has about eight stone scrolls which rest on a drum. This leads up to the lantern.

The floor is all tessellated and this is one of the main features of this cathedral. Irish wood has been used to make the baptismal font and the portal.

The famous German artist Albrecht Durer has made some cravings along with silver plates and coins.

According to the book of facts, st Paul and his missionary party got shipwrecked on Malta for a period of three months.  And during this stay Paul got bitten by a snake and despite that, he wasn’t harmed. Because of this the natives thought of him as god.  He later healed the governor of the island.

Later on the governor; publius was converted to Christianity and eventually became the bishop of Malta. This was followed by him becoming the bishop of Athens. .

The st Paul cathedral stands on the traditional site of the publius town house and headquarters.

The st Paul cathedral was built to replace the damaged normal cathedral. The new cathedral was responsible for the redesigning of the city center. There were many streets and houses that were cleared so that the cathedral could be built.

The cathedral is done so lavishly that it is compared to the cathedral of st John in Valetta.  The marble floor and the tombstones carry the coat of arms and the inscriptions of the various top clergymen and members of the cathedral chapter.