St. Paul's Cathedral, Mdina

The St. Paul's Cathedral in Mdina is the original Episcopal Church of the Archdiocese of Malta. Since 1816 it shares this function with the St. John Co - Cathedral.

After the old Norman cathedral in 1693 was destroyed in an earthquake, the architect Lorenzo Gafa Maltese was commissioned to build a new church. Only the apse remained from the previous building. The present church was built in 1697-1703.

Behind the simple twin-towered facade with Corinthian columns conceals a magnificent baroque interior with many wall and ceiling frescoes. The baptismal font, the portal and other equipment pieces were carved from Irish woods. The current interior painting of the dome dates from the 1950s. It shows the shipwreck of St. Paul to the island of Malta (Acts 27.27 EU by Acts 28,10 EU). From his stay on the island, the patron saint of the cathedral derives.

On the example of St. Paul later all architects oriented when planning new churches in Malta. Baroque cupola and two towers remained until well into the 19th century instrumental for every Maltese church. The interior is lined mostly with marble. The lamps are from Venice, the organ from France. It is original and is recorded almost every day.

The Cathedral Museum is a collection of silver plates and coins, as well as an exhibition of engravings and woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer.

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