One World - Protecting the most significant buildings, monuments and features of Valletta (26)
St Andrews Scots church
This church is built on a platform constructed to overcome the steeply sloping site at the corner of Triq Nofsinhar with Triq l-Ifran. The church is set back from the block's building line on both front and sides. It is constructed in a toned down version of the Neo-Gothic style.
The church is separated from the street by a cast iron Victorian palisade which was imposed by the Roman Catholic church in Malta on all places of worship that were non-Catholic. The church was built for a Presbyterian congregation and is supplemented by a vicarage and 'Reading Centre' in the same architectural style.
The church was constructed in 1857 following the instructions given by Rev. Dr George Wisely to the local architect Giuseppe Bonavia who then designed the first neo-gothic church in Malta. The Scots Church had its 150th anniversary in September 2007. It is one of the few non-Catholic churches of the British period. In 1974 the Methodist congregation from the former Methodist Church in Floriana joined the Presbyterian congregation and today St Andrew's is a partnership church between the two congregations.
Mepa scheduled St Andrews Scots Church as a Grade 1 national monument as per Government Notice No. 276/08 in the Government Gazette dated March 28.