Idea #779 – Visiting the Grand Masters of the Order at St. John’s Co-Cathedral in Valetta
St. John’s Co-Cathedral, located in Valletta, Malta, is the conventual church of the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, called the Order of Malta. Financed and commissioned in 1572 by Jean de La Cassière, the Grand Master of the Order, it was built between 1573 and 1577 according to the plans of the Maltese military architect Ġlormu Cassar, known then to have been at the origin of several important buildings in Valletta. The cathedral was redecorated by Mattia Preti from 1662 to 1667. It is designated as a co-cathedral, a title conferred by Pius VII in 1816, sharing this title with the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Saint Paul in Mdina.
The co-cathedral has eight side chapels, each associated with a “hospitable language”, i.e. a funding country, also deploying troops. There is the chapel of Germany or of the Three Kings, that of Italy or of Sainte-Catherine, of France or of Saint-Paul, of Provence or of Saint-Michel including the Anglo-Bavarian chapel or of the Relics, the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, of Auvergne or of San Sebastian, of Aragon or of Saint-George and of Castile or of Saint-Jacques.
At the back of the nave, the entrance to the sacristy, opposite the entrance to the oratory, was part of the initiatory journey of novice knights, including Caravaggio. The latter painted The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist there in 1608, commissioned by the Grand Master of the Order, to be placed as an altarpiece.
The floor of the co-cathedral is quite remarkable: all marble, it is completely made up of cenotaphs, where 405 knights of the order of Saint John of Jerusalem are represented. Under the altar there is also a crypt, which contains the tombs of great masters, including Philippe de Villiers de L’Isle-Adam, Jean de Valette, Claude de La Sengle and Alof de Wignacourt.
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Saint John’s Co-cathédral, Valetta, Malta