Visiting the amazing St John's Co-cathedral in Valetta, Malta
We are on holiday in Malta this week for the first time. We are staying right on the edge of the capital, Valetta - and its an amazing place.
Yesterday we visited St John's Co-cathedral, in the centre of Valetta, which is listed as one of the main sites to see in Malta. It was built by the knights of St John (previously Knights Hospitalier) in the 1570s. Its pretty enough from the outside, although not remarkable - however the inside is an entirely different story.
Every inch of the inside is exquisitely decorated. The audio tour guide described the cathedral as the 'main temple of the Knights of St John', who governed Malta for close to 300 years.
One of the most striking features for me was the floor. Every part of the floor was covered in these amazing decorative marble slabs. I've never seen as many as this before, nor as highly decorated.
These slabs were really intricate and colourful. And having now visited a few other cathedrals in Malta today, its clear to see that its a Maltese thing, because you can see similar slabs in the other cathedrals.
There was also some impressive art works throughout.
Its known for having a number of Caravaggio's - the one above is Saint Jerome Writing painted in the early 17th century. Such a lovely painting.
The entrance price was steep-ish at round 15 euros each, but I guess the upkeep of the place is considerable, so if its supporting that, then I have no issue with it - plus it was truly stunning to see.
There is gold leaf and marble everywhere you look - with a lot of history presented, particularly for the Knights of St John.
I loved the curly columns in the pic above (sorry - I never quite caught the picture properly). I've not seen columns like that before - and the painting there of the arch-angel Gabriel (I think from memory) is quite impressive too.
The pic above shows the oratory with another Caravaggio at the end - the beheading of Saint John the Baptist, which is considered to be another of his masterpieces.
Again it was the floor that I kept being drawn to - especially the slabs with skeletons (of which there were quite a few) - it must have taken a huge amount of work to cut all the individual coloured marble pieces needed to make one of these. I loved seeing them.
The main alter was as impressive as you would think (above). It really rivals anything else I've ever seen, including those I've seen in places like Rome and Florence.
I had never heard the term 'co-cathedral' before so I had to look it up. Wikipedia describes it as:
A co-cathedral is a cathedral church which shares the function of being a bishop's seat, or cathedra, with another cathedral, often in another city
[ Source: wikipedia ]
The workmanship throughout is quite amazing. It does seem over-the-top-lavish and I do find it questionable at times (ie, where did the money come from and could it have been put to better use when in those times the majority of people had next to nothing). However, from a historic perspective, its great to still have it around and protected, and will hopefully be around for a long time for future generations.
It truly was quite an amazing place to see. I'm glad we visited, and I would recommend it to anyone else visiting Valetta/Malta. Quite incredible really !
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What an amazing cathedral, not my fav style ( I'm passionate about goth cathedral) but still so beautiful 😍
I'd probably say the same - it was very glitzy ! Lovely place to visit though.
This is all kinds of awesome! Thanks for the pictures.
You are welcome - it was quite impressive !
Wow, that looks absolutely stunning. I have to agree with you though, I feel like the money could have been spent in a much better way.
It was quite impressive to see - especially the floor !
!INDEED outside looks pretty average but inside is amazing
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Aye - they are quite a contrast !
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Stunning interior. I knew Caravaggio's Beheading of Saint John the Baptist was there, but I'd never seen it in its setting before, so thanks for posting that photo.
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It was quite a stunning painting to see. I didnt take any particularly good pics of it though. Heres another (still not great):
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Que bello me encanta!!!
Thanks !
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Wow beautiful places 😍
It really was quit beautiful !
I've been to Malta twice as a kid and again as a young adult. I don't think I ever stepped foot in there! Or maybe I did but was too young to appreciate and internalise it. I mostly remember Popeye's village heh
Its a lovely place. We were thinking of going to popeye's village, but its at the other end of the island from where we are, and its so hot that the bus ride would be crazy - so we'll have to come back and do it when its cooler !
You can walk that distance!
Lol - true, the island is quite small !
It must have been stunning to see everything up close. The history behind the cathedral and the Knights of St John is really intriguing too.
What a masterpiece! It looks stunning with all of those details...
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[-]bpcvoter2 (-5)(1) 4 days ago · Will be hidden due to low rating
NO DOWNVOTES FOR MARKY MARK'S SELF VOTING !WEED
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SHAME ON YOU ALL SAD PEOPLE WHO SCAM LIE AND FARM HIVE AND HIVERS
[-]acidyo (82) 3 months ago
Haha at "I shouldn't make commercial" :D Maybe something to worry about when you have more youtube subscribers! Quite interesting content though, these things should get more subs on there and here.
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[-]gogreenbuddy (67) 3 months ago
Yeah thought that was funny too
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HE MAKES CURATION REWARDS WITH ALL HIS ALT ACCOUNTS BURNING TOKENS LIKE THIS DOES NOT TAKE OLD TOKENS IT MINTS NEW ONES AND BURNS THEM
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cwow stop the drink and drugs
Stop supporting the fake Hive police who do nothing but exploit Hive
Many people on Hive will never get to spend any of their Hive as it may become illegal in certain countries
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Zac the man with the scam plan
lol the Marky mark keeps dreaming
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[-]themarkymark (80) yesterday (edited)
Farming? Show me where I am farming, I post like one post a month at this point, and all buildawhale is burned. As you say transactions don’t lie. And don't say curation rewards, I'd get those no matter what I vote on and if you expect I will be the only person on this blockchain to forfeit curation rewards, you are dumber than we know you are.
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21 hours ago in LeoFinance by themarkymark (80)
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cwow stop the drink and drugs
Can't you see the problems on Hive?
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LOL
It seems like THEMARKYMARK is dealing with some personal drama and mental issues, which might be causing them to spam us and others with baby pics, GIFs, and questionable content he's been doing the same for years. The fun doesn't stop there, as this seems to be a recurring theme with multiple online personas. The real question is, do we want to trust these drama-magnets with our hard-earned funds or any significant influence on Hive?
On Hive a significant issue exists with automatic upvotes consistently rewarding the same individuals day in and day out
We want to address the issue of downvoting. It has caused pain to many people, and we want to make sure it doesn't happen again reply to @jacobtothe
On Hive a significant issue exists with automatic upvotes consistently rewarding the same individuals day in and day out
We hope that those who genuinely care about Hive will reconsider their actions, as continuing down this path could inadvertently harm innocent users who are unaware of these issues
lol the Marky mark keeps dreaming
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themarkymark (80)in FreeCompliments • 2 days ago
No.
I downvote spammers, you are a spammer, you get no monies. It’s very simple.
In the meantime go get some help. You obviously have some issues going on.
2 days ago in FreeCompliments by themarkymark (80)$0.00
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[-]bpcvoter1 (-4)(1) yesterday · Will be hidden due to low rating
GET HELP
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[-]themarkymark (80) 4 hours ago
I have a personal chef, maid, and a captain for my yacht. What other help do I need?
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impressive
What a beautiful building. Your angle of this photo, make that ceiling looks awesome. Looking forward your next post about the beatiful place.
What a beautiful place. Your angle of photo make this ceilings looks awesome.. Looking forward your next photo.
Beautiful place, and your photos definitely do it justice 😀
I'm not sure (because my Latin is pretty rusty and I was taught classical rather than ecclesiastical Latin) but I think each of the ornamental floor slabs is a covering for the crypts of senior or particularly heroic knights of the Order.
I love how this cathedral is so full of paintings and history. Thanks for sharing such beautiful photos!