Stop 04 of 11

St Lawrence's Church

The Order’s church before St John’s

Narration · 3 min

Have it read to you while you look at the thing itself, hands in pockets.

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Guide to St Lawrence's Church

St Lawrence's was the conventual church of the Order of St John for forty-one years before Valletta existed. The medieval building was replaced at the end of the seventeenth century by Lorenzo Gafà, and it holds a Mattia Preti altarpiece and relics of the Great Siege.

Before Valletta

Arriving in 1530, the Knights needed a church and took over the parish church already standing here, a building with roots reaching back to the eleventh century and the Norman conquest of the island.

Until the Order moved across the water in 1571 this was where the Grand Masters worshipped, where the standards hung, and where the dead of the Great Siege were brought. When the Order left, Birgu kept the church.

Gafà's rebuilding

The medieval fabric was replaced between 1681 and 1697 by Lorenzo Gafà, the Maltese architect who also built the cathedral at Mdina. The dome has the same confidence, and the interior the same sense of a building that knows exactly what it is doing.

What to look for inside

The painting to find is Mattia Preti's Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence. Lawrence was roasted on a gridiron and Preti does not soften it.

The church also keeps standards and relics from the Great Siege, together with a reliquary the Order gave it, said to hold a piece of the True Cross. A bomb removed part of the roof during the Second World War. As with nearly everything in the Three Cities, what you are looking at has been put back to some extent.

What to look at

  • Preti’s Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence above the main altar
  • Great Siege standards and relics in the side chapels
  • The terrace outside: the best view of Fort St Angelo from the town side

Practical

Opening
Usually open mornings and late afternoons; closed during services.
Dress
Shoulders and knees covered.

Walk to stop 05

Take the narrow street leading inland from beside the church, into the oldest part of Birgu. Stop where the lanes get tightest.

About 2 min · 150 m