Holy Malta: St John’s Co-Cathedral

On my last day in Malta, before leaving on a mid-day flight, I visited the main cathedral. It’s called the co-cathedral because it is a shared seat by certain important clergy hierarchs. I can see why there would be competition to call this place your see; it’s magnificent. The knights were clearly a wealthy order, given the splendor of this church. It’s rather like a fortress outside, and not terribly photogenic, but once you get inside, wow. It’s another story. The floor, like so many beautiful floors I saw in the churches of Malta, was entirely inlaid-stone plots, mostly Pietra Dura semi-precious stone work. The closer to the altar, the more important the man interred in the floor. Being in the church gives a feeling of being in another world, a place where there really were knights, battles, plunder, sacrifice and noblemen. It is an echo out of time, a majesty that was.