Malta's Best - Churches

You can't help but notice the Islands' baroque churches, their red or silver painted domes in relief against the skyline. They form an integral part of the Islands' countryside, dominate village squares and are at the heart of Maltese social and cultural life.

In total there are 360 churches on Malta and 40 on Gozo. Incredible for a population of 400,000 people.

The festa in honour of the parish patron saint is celebrated as strongly as ever. Each church is an architectural masterpiece with its own distinct style. Each has its own history and houses unique relics and treasures.

History & Architecture
The Knights of St John brought much-needed funds to the Islands, and the impetus to build more elaborate churches. Many of the older, simple medieval chapels were pulled down or developed in the baroque parish churches we see today. Old St Gregory's in Zejtun is a fine example of how the Knights adapted earlier chapels. It is also the oldest example of a dome construction in Malta.

Although the Knights arrived in 1530, it was around half century before they began to build the parish churches we see today. Their first concern had been to fortify the Islands against further Saracen attacks and to build Valletta. The Golden Age of peace and prosperity that followed the Great Siege in 1565, saw riches from Europe flow into Malta to build and endow Malta's churches.

Two Maltese architects, Gerolamo Cassar and Tumas Dingli are considered the leading architects of the pre-baroque period. Dingli designed the old parish churches of Attard and Birkirkara. St Mary's, Attard, dating from 1613, is considered the finest Renaissance church in Malta. The Islands have little of the Renaissance period as they were left poor and neglected during the ‘dark ages' under Aragonese rule.

Other early churches of the Knights are those dedicated to St Roque at Balzan and Zebbug. They retain much of the venacular simplicity of medieval times and are, like the austere façade of St John's Co-Cathedral, Valletta, good examples of the pre baroque period.

The main period of church building was from the 17th – 18th centuries when Italian baroque style flourished. The main architect of the time was Lorenzo Gafa', a Maltese trained in Rome. Gafa' was to design some of Malta's most impressive baroque churches. His favoured style of elegant domes and majestic exteriors is the symbol of Maltese baroque. Among his finest are the Mdina and Gozo Cathedrals, the churches of San Lawrenz, Vittoriosa; St Catherine, Zejtun; St Nicholas, Siggiewi; and the parish church at Gharb, Gozo.

The 19th and 20th centuries also saw considerable additions to existing baroque churches, and the building of neo-gothic churches, such as the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes at Mgarr, Gozo. Major churches built in the late 19th century are the two rotundas: the Church of St Mary at Mosta, and the Church of St John the Baptist at Xewkija, Gozo.