St Agatha’s Chapel, Mdina: A Baroque Roman Catholic Chapel in Malta
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Malta
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Crusader, Knights Hospitaller
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Chapel
On this page8 sections
History
St Agatha’s Chapel is a small Roman Catholic chapel in Malta, dedicated to Saint Agatha and administered within the Archdiocese of Malta. It stands in Mdina, the fortified historic city that served as Malta’s capital from antiquity through the medieval period. The present building belongs to the Baroque rebuilding of Mdina after the 1693 earthquake, and was designed by the Maltese architect Lorenzo Gafà.
Medieval Foundations and Early Records
The earliest known reference to a chapel on this site dates to 10 August 1414, when it was named Sancta Agatha de Civitate, ecclesia. A document from 1436 described the chapel as an animagium, a foundation supported for religious observance. It also possessed an ientaculum, an obligation to distribute food to priests after vespers on Saint Agatha’s feast day. This arrangement was distinctive within Mdina. In 1575, the distribution had to take place inside the chapel because no other suitable place was available.
A record from a 1539 pastoral visit identifies the chapel as one of five then standing in Mdina. It states that the building had been erected in 1417 by the nobleman Francesco Gatto Desguanez and his wife, Paola de Castelli. Since a chapel is already mentioned in 1414, an earlier building dedicated to Saint Agatha may have occupied the same site before the 1417 construction.
Sixteenth-Century Use and Patronage
During Pietro Dusina’s pastoral visit on 22 January 1575, the chapel contained one altar, an image of Saint Agatha, and a linen altar cloth. Its leaking roof and other defects required repair. Dusina also ordered bronze candlesticks, a large wooden cross, liturgical vestments, and a Roman-rite missal. Because the interior was dark, he instructed that a circular opening be made in the door and that lamps be installed.
By Bishop Gargallo’s visitation in 1594, the chapel had acquired two wooden candlesticks and a bell-cot, a small structure for holding a bell, had been built on the roof. The Gatto family retained secular patronage until 1661, when responsibility passed to the Church in Malta. The chapel is now associated with the Cathedral Seminary, which is described as its owner.
Earthquake, Rebuilding, and Later Care
The medieval chapel was severely damaged by the earthquake of 1693, which destroyed much of Mdina, including its medieval cathedral. A replacement chapel was built to designs by Lorenzo Gafà and blessed on 26 June 1695 by Archdeacon Antonio Cauchi. Bishop Davide Cocco Palmieri and Grand Master Adrien de Wignacourt were present. The Grand Master was the head of the Order of Saint John, which governed Malta during this period.
On the following day, Antonio Cauchi blessed a new image of Saint Agatha painted by Giuseppe D’Arena. Saint Adrian the Martyr was included in the image because he was the patron saint of the cathedral dean Adriano Bonnici, who paid for the reconstruction. Saint Agatha was an early Christian martyr and is venerated as a patron saint of Malta.
During the Second World War, the chapel provided shelter for two families. After the war it fell into disrepair, but was later restored following funds raised by the Mdina Cultural Association and the Cathedral Seminary.
Remains
The surviving chapel is a compact Baroque building with a square interior plan. Its exterior is organized around a balanced facade, while the interior rises from four arches and four pendentives, curved elements that support a dome above a square space. A relatively deep apse opposite the entrance contains the single altar.
Facade and Bell-Cot
The facade has two tall Tuscan pilasters at its corners. These relatively plain classical supports frame a square doorway surrounded by a stone surround. Above it are a segmental pediment and a marble inscription tablet. The upper facade ends in a pediment with curved volutes and two acorn-shaped decorative motifs at its ends. A small bell-cot with one bell stands on the side wall opposite Mdina’s main city entrance.
Dome and Apse
Inside, Tuscan-style pillars support four arches and four pendentives, which carry the dome and its lantern. The apse opposite the entrance is relatively deep and holds the chapel’s single altar. This arrangement brings the principal liturgical focus into the square central space beneath the dome.
Paintings and Devotional Features
The oval titular painting by Giuseppe D’Arena shows Saint Agatha and Saint Adrian the Martyr. It is a copy of the painting that remained in the chapel until 1694, while the earlier work is now displayed in the Cathedral Museum. The present painting has an oval frame and is flanked by Corinthian columns, whose capitals are distinguished by leafy decoration. The columns support an arch decorated with cherubs and a cartouche bearing the names of the two saints.
Two further paintings hang on the nave’s side walls, one on each side. One represents Saint Agatha, while the other depicts the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. Stations of the Cross are positioned beneath them.
