St. Paul Cathedral (Mdina)

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The Cathedral of St. Paul in Mdina is the original episcopal church of the Archdiocese of Malta . Since 1816 it has shared this function with the co-cathedral of St. John .

history

St. Paul Cathedral (Mdina)

After the old Norman cathedral was destroyed in an earthquake in 1693, the Maltese architect Lorenzo Gafà was commissioned to build a new church. Only the apse remained from the previous building. The current church was built from 1697 and was consecrated on October 8, 1702 by Bishop Davide Cocco Palmieri .

Behind the simple double-towered facade with Corinthian columns hides a splendid baroque interior with many wall and ceiling frescoes. The baptismal font, portal, and other furnishings were carved from Irish wood. The current interior painting of the dome dates from the 1950s. It shows the shipwreck of the Apostle Paul on the island of Malta ( Acts 27,27  EU to Acts 28,10  EU ). The patronage of the cathedral is derived from his stay on the island .

The altarpiece was created by Mattia Preti . It depicts Saul's conversion to Paul on the way to Damascus. Christ appears to the later apostle, who is anxiously lying on the ground.

Later, all architects used the example of St. Paul as a guide when planning new churches in Malta. Baroque style, crossing dome and double tower facade remained decisive for every Maltese church building until well into the 19th century. The interior is mostly lined with marble, the floor with colored marble grave slabs. The lamps come from Venice, the organ from France. It is original and is played almost every day.

The cathedral museum houses a collection of silver plates and coins as well as an exhibition of copperplate engravings and woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer .

Web links

Commons : Cathedral of St. Paul (Mdina)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.malta-tours.de/html/kirchen_auf_malta.html
  2. ↑ Maltagenealogy. ( Memento from September 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) October 10, 2011, accessed on October 23, 2014 (English)
  3. ↑ http://www.malta-inside.de/staedteundplaetze/mdina_und_rabat.htm

Coordinates: 35 ° 53 '10.8 "  N , 14 ° 24' 14.1"  E