Ecclesiastical buildings

I write in response to Canon Joseph Caruana's letter Bell Tower Restoration (January 26).

My article Safeguarding The Church's Architectural Heritage was intended in all good faith to raise public awareness about the restoration standards in the conservation of ecclesiastical buildings. In the light of recent legislation, specifically the Cultural Heritage Act, the Church's obligations within the realm of architectural conservation have become even more onerous when one considers the contents of article 52 (1) of the same law which lays down that:

"Without prejudice to any other law that may be in force, and until such time when there may be reached an agreement between the competent civil and ecclesiastical authorities, cultural property belonging to the Catholic Church, including to Catholic Religious Orders, and destined or used for religious purposes shall fall under the exclusive regulation and superintendence of the Catholic Cultural Heritage Commission to be appointed every two years by the president of the Malta Episcopal Conference, and to consist of not less than five experts one of whom shall be so appointed after consultation with the minister."

The fact that the ecclesiastical authorities have acquired the right of exclusive regulation under the superintendence of the Catholic Cultural Heritage Commission, in effect "bypassing" even the government's own superintendent of cultural heritage, makes it even more imperative that the Church's commission is well-manned by restoration experts and be in full control of any on-going restoration projects. That was the main theme of my article.

As a side note permit me to refer to a few issues that were specifically raised concerning the bell tower of the St Lawrence parish church in Vittoriosa. For the sake of historical correctness, Canon Caruana was right in pointing out that it is not Gafà's bell-tower that was partially dismantled but a variant of a design by Carapecchia. Quoting from an article I had written entitled Lorenzo Gafà (1639-1703), Architect of the Church, that was published in the Treasures of Malta (Winter 1999, vol. VI, no. i, pp. 7-13):

"Gafà's design for the original church façade probably comprised only the three central bays of the existing frontage. A drawing of the façade to be found in Romano Carapecchia's album of drawings at the Courtauld Institute in London suggests that the Roman architect was responsible for the later addition of the two-extra bays that incorporate the symmetrical bell towers.

In fact the drawing indicates the presence of pyramid-like finials at the end of Gafà's three-bay façade. Carapecchia's proposal for the western towers may have been intended as an extension to the original Gafà façade. Carapecchia's design would date to the first quarter of the 18th century after Gafà's death in 1703. The existing bell towers with their balustraded parapet wall were eventually built to a different design."

However, regarding the on-going restoration, Canon Caruana skirted the issues that I had raised in my original article.

In my article, I had questioned whether it was absolutely necessary to dismantle the upper part of the bell tower including the stone spire. Was it possible to replace the deteriorated stonework without dismantling that part of the structure?

To dismantle part of a structure and re-build it in new stone qualifies as reconstruction not as restoration. Reconstruction should only be a very last resort when the structure is irretrievably beyond restoration.

It would be very reassuring on Canon Caruana's part to issue a public statement informing the local community and all those with an interest in architectural heritage about all current and future aspects of the restoration process such as whether the spire would be rebuilt with its original stonework, what safeguards are being followed to ensure that restoration standards are being adhered to, the monitoring arrangements by experts and, possibly, a time-frame for the completion of such a project.

Assuming that the project is being carried out in a professionally diligent manner, Canon Caruana and all those assisting him would certainly merit our unconditional support.