St. John's Co-Cathedral , Valletta, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

St. John's Co-Cathedral is a Baroque church on Triq San Gwann in Valletta, Malta, built by the Knights of St John as the conventual church of their order. A plain, fortress-like exterior hides one of the richest interiors in Europe, including a famous painting by Caravaggio. It is the one place in Valletta most visitors make sure to see.

The story behind it

The church was built between 1572 and 1577, in the years after the Knights founded Valletta as their new capital. From the outside it looks severe and almost military, in keeping with the fortified city around it. The lavish decoration came later, when the knights covered the interior in carved stone, gilding and paintings. It later became a co-cathedral, a title it shares with St Paul's Cathedral in Mdina.

Its greatest treasure is Caravaggio's The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, painted in 1608 and generally described as the largest work he ever made. The floor is also remarkable: it is paved with the inlaid marble tombstones of hundreds of knights, each one a memorial in colored stone.

The cathedral also has its share of local legend. One tale tells of a sacristan who helped a priest dress for the 5 am mass each morning. One day the priest arrived and said nothing until the service ended, then told him to come again the next day. The sacristan then learned that the priest had died the night before. The ghost, it is said, returned for three masses, the number he still owed, and was never seen again. It is a story, not a documented event, but it suits the building.

What to look for

• Look down at the marble floor, where the tombstones carry coats of arms, skeletons and symbols of mortality in inlaid stone.
• Find Caravaggio's The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, a huge canvas with dramatic light and dark that you read from left to right.
• Look up at the painted vaulted ceiling, where the scenes from the life of Saint John crowd in above the gilded walls.
• Compare the plain stone facade with the interior, and notice how little the street front gives away.

Tips for your visit

• Allow about an hour to see the nave, the side chapels and the Caravaggio without rushing.
• Visits are ticketed and the church is still a place of worship, so check current opening hours and dress modestly.
• Go early or later in the day if you can, since the interior is easier to appreciate when it is less crowded.
• The cathedral sits in the middle of Valletta, so you can easily combine it with a walk through the surrounding streets and squares.

See it on a quest

Ghosts of Valletta: The Psychological Distress is a good way to meet this place, especially given the sacristan's ghost story. You reach the cathedral on foot as one stop of a longer route through Valletta, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle on the spot. There is no guide to book and no group to join, and one ticket covers the whole group.