Lorenzo Gafà (1639–1703) was a Maltese Baroque architect and sculptor. He designed many churches in the Maltese Islands, including St. Paul's Cathedral in Mdina and the Cathedral of the Assumption in Victoria, Gozo. He was the younger brother of the sculptor Melchiorre Cafà.
Bust of Lorenzo Gafà, possibly by his brother Melchiorre
Image: St Paul's Cathedral Mdina
Image: Cathedral St. Marija, Victoria Gozo Nov 2014
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
