St Paul's Cathedral, Mdina
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Paul, commonly known as St Paul's Cathedral or the Mdina Cathedral, is a Catholic cathedral in Mdina, Malta, dedicated to St. Paul the Apostle. The cathedral was founded in the 12th century, and according to tradition it stands on the site of where Roman governor Publius met St. Paul following his shipwreck on Malta. The original cathedral was severely damaged in the 1693 Sicily earthquake, so it was dismantled and rebuilt in the Baroque style to a design of the Maltese architect Lorenzo Gafà between 1696 and 1705. The cathedral is regarded as Gafà's masterpiece.
Façade of St Paul's Cathedral in 2013
The old cathedral of Mdina, as depicted on a fresco at the Grandmaster's Palace in Valletta
The cathedral's doorway
The cathedral's dome and belfries dominate the skyline of Mdina
Mdina, also known by its Italian epithets Città Vecchia and Città Notabile, is a fortified city in the Northern Region of Malta which served as the island's capital from antiquity to the medieval period. The city is still confined within its walls, and has a population of 250, but it is contiguous with the town of Rabat, which takes its name from the Arabic word for suburb, and has a population of over 11,000.
Image: Malta Mdina (Triq San Oswald) 02 ies
Image: Malta Mdina Pjazza San Pawl + St. Paul's Cathedral ex 01 ies
Image: Malta Mdina Gate
Image: Mdina palazzo santa sofia