Wignacourt Museum, Rabat

The story of the Wignacourt Museum is inseparable from that of St Paul's Grotto, which lies just across the road from it, and to which it is connected by an underground passage.

By the 17th century, the grotto where St Paul was reputedly imprisoned after his shipwreck was becoming a very well known place of pilgrimage. The grotto was heavily patronised by the Knights of St John.

The building that houses the museum was built by Grand Master Wignacourt as a convent for the college of priests that served in the grotto. Today, the story of the grotto and the cult of St Paul in Malta is the most important storyline in the museum.

The first floor of the building is organised along a long corridor that terminates in a baroque chapel, visible at the far end. The first room seen on the left tells the story of the Spanish hermit Juan Benegas de Cordoba, who played a key role in promoting the grotto as a place of pilgrimage at the start of the 17th century. Benegas was himself a collector of relics and reliquaries and left a large number to the grotto.

The small showcase on legs immediately to the right displays the tondo by Alessandro Algardi, a circular bronze plaque that represents the beheading of St Paul, which originally adorned the altar in the grotto.

The Treasurer's room is at the far end of the corridor, on the right.

To the right of the picture, an allegory of the Order of St John looks over the staircase leading up from the ground floor.

The bust to the right of the staircase depicts Notary Francesco Catania, an important benefactor of the museum.

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