Managing St John’s – working for the greater Good

Abstract

St John’s Co-Cathedral is without doubt the principal national treasure of Malta, an island state in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea. St John’s was the Conventual Church of the Hospitaller Order of St John in Valletta, after that city was built following the devastations of the unsuccessful Ottoman Siege of 1565. The construction of an austere stone church began in 1571 and it was consecrated in 1577. Over the next 220 years, while its Mannerist exterior remained virtually unchanged, its interior was developed into a pearl of Baroque, to be enjoyed in Malta and envied beyond Rome. After the Order of St John was evicted from Malta by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798, decay set in. Attempts were made over the centuries to halt the deterioration, but lack of fund, absence of structure and power struggles stood in the way. The last two decades have seen a reversal of this situation, saving St John’s from the ravages of time.