Before La Valletta became Malta’s capital in the 16th century the island’s capital was Mdina, Arabic for ‘walled city’ but known in Italian as ‘La Notabile’. Situated in the centre of the island it makes a welcome change from the busy life of La Valletta and entering inside the town’s austere Arab walls we found it very pleasant to wander through quiet, almost deserted streets lined with several noble mansions.
The cathedral of Saint Paul is Mdina’s most ‘Notabile’ building. Mediaeval in origin it was completely reconstructed after a major earthquake in the late seventeenth century whose epicentre was at Noto in Sicily. Saint Paul now presents an elegant baroque appearance which is not unduly fussy.
We also visited the cathedral’s museum with its rich collection of ecclesiastical vestments and paintings.
Malta has a total of 359 churches in a country with a population of just 514,564 inhabitants. Most of these buildings have something of interest distinguishing them. Clearly it would be impossible to see them all. However, of the handful that we visited we remember the following as outstanding:
The parish church of the Assumption (Mosta Rotunda) – Mosta.
St John’s co-cathedral – Valletta (already described in my previous posts on Malta).
The Collegiate Parish Church of St Paul’s Shipwreck – Valletta. Here are some of our photos of this lovely baroque building in La Valletta.
Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Paul – Mdina (described in this post).
Here is a useful list of some of the best Maltese churches:
As a young lad I collected stamps and was particularly proud of my Commonwealth collection especially the section on Malta. In the definitive series of Queen Elizabeth II stamps was this one showing the Mosta Rotunda. It had always been my ambition to visit it and finally I did!
Mosta Rotunda church was built in the 19th century to a design by the Maltese architect Giorgio Grognet de Vassé who believed that his island was a remnant of the great kingdom of the now underwater Atlantis. Its dome, with a diameter of 37 metres, is reckoned to be the fourth largest in Europe and the ninth largest in the world. Clearly inspired by Rome’s Pantheon the building was completed in 1860.
We found the rotunda’s interior very noble with its neo-classical style. The religious devotion of the Maltese must be truly intense to have been able to raise funds in their little island for such a magnificent church.
Malta is strictly speaking the name given to just the larger of its two main islands. We still had to take the ferry to Gozo, the other island, and discover its very special charms harking back to pre-package holiday times…