A legacy of glory restored

Abstract

It is my pleasure and honour, as President of the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation, to welcome you all to our European conference on "The Physiognomy of Cathedrals: Conservation Strategies." We are privileged to convene this gathering in co-operation with the Opera della Primaziale Pisana which is responsible for the conservation of the monuments in Piazza del Duomo in Pisa. The title of this conference refers to Malta and Pisa because this joint initiative between the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation and the Opera della Primaziale Pisana is launched in Malta and will be followed by another conference in Pisa towards the end of October of the same year. This high-level meeting is convened to mark the twentieth anniversary of the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation. Twenty years ago, the Catholic Church in Malta and the Government of the Republic had succeeded in hammering out a historic compromise to bypass the long-standing controversy regarding the ownership of the Co-Cathedral and establish, by a public deed ofJuly 2001, the St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation as an independent body to manage and administer this prime Baroque monument and its priceless art collections.