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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 JANUARY 2022 7 HISTORY History behind a 17th century cathedral With its tumultuous history and undeniable links to Paul the Apostle, we think St Paul's Cathedral is worth a feature and a visit AMY MICALLEF DECESARE Though the Maltese Islands are famous for their stunning village feasts, most of which take place during the summer months, many don't realise that there are countless other feasts celebrated throughout the rest of the year, too! One of those feasts is that of the Conversion of St Paul the Apostle, which is celebrated lo- cally during the liturgical year on 25 January, at St Paul's Ca- thedral in Mdina. The history The Metropolitan Cathedral of St Paul, commonly known as St Paul's Cathedral is locat- ed in Mdina and is dedicated to St Paul the Apostle. As many have heard, according to the tradition, the site of the cathe- dral was originally occupied by a palace that belonged to St Publius, the Roman governor of Melite (ancient Mdina). Ac- cording to the story, St Publius was the person who greeted Paul the Apostle, after he was shipwrecked in Malta. Though there are remains of a Roman domus in the crypt that is still present today and the tradition is commonly believed, the ver- sion of events is not completely supported by historians. Let's fast forward! The first cathedral that stood on the site is said to have been dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. However, during the Arab pe- riod and after the Aghlabid in- vasion, the churches in Melite were looted and as revealed by excavations, the site was used as a mosque. Following the invasion of the Normans in 1091, Christianity was re-established as the dom- inant religion in the country and during the 12th and 13th centuries, a cathedral dedicat- ed to St Paul was built on the site, in Gothic and Roman- esque styles. The story doesn't end there however, as in 1679, bishop Miguel Jeronimo de Molina decided to replace the medieval choir with one built in Baroque style, and Maltese architect Lorenzo Gafa was ap- pointed to design and oversee the project. A few years lat- er, the cathedral was severely damaged during the 1693 Sicily earthquake and works began to restore the building. Work on the dome was finished and thus the cathedral fully completed by 24 October 1705. The cathe- dral is often regarded as Gafa's masterpiece. The interior The Cathedral is built in the Baroque style, with some in- fluences from native Maltese architecture. Most of the ca- thedral's floor is made up of inlaid tombstones or com- memorative marble slabs, sim- ilar to those found at St John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta. The remains of a number of bishops and cannons, as well as laymen from noble families are bur- ied within the cathedral. The ceiling has frescoes, depicting the life of St Paul, which were painted by the Sicilian painters Vincenzo, Antonio and Franc- esco Manno in 1794. Many artefacts from the pre- 1693 earthquake survived and were used to decorate the ca- thedral, including a late Goth- ic, early Renaissance baptis- mal font, dating back to 1495, the old cathedral's main door, which was made in 1530 and some 15th century choir stalls, as well as some paintings. The cathedral's aisles, chapels and sacristy contain several fres- coes and paintings, includ- ing works by Mattia Preti and his bottega, Francesco Gran- di, Domenico Bruschi, Pietro Gagliardi, Bartolomeo Garago- na, Francesco Zahra, Luigi Mo- glia and Alessio Erardi. The feast As initially mentioned, the Conversion of St Paul the Apostle is celebrated towards the end of the month of Jan- uary. St Paul was the greatest of the early Christian mission- aries and first appears in the Acts of the Apostles, under the name of Saul. The feast speaks of his con- version which, according to the New Testament, was an event in his life that led St Paul to persecute early Christians and to become a follower of Jesus. It's normally dated to AD 34- 37, four to seven years after Je- sus' crucifixion on Friday April 7, 30 AD.