Fiona Galea Debono
Proposals to extend St John's Co-Cathedral Museum
Foundation prefers digging to building
Concept courtyard... a "virtual reality image" submitted by Bencini and Associates of the roofing over of the courtyard with a transparent material to create a visitors centre.
The St John's Co-Cathedral Foundation's application to increase its museum space by constructing a three-storey building in the courtyard on Merchants Street is not its favoured option.
Those plans are merely a possible alternative to excavation, prepared on the recommendations of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, the foundation told The Times.
The foundation's first, preferred and "most feasible" option is the roofing over of the courtyard with a transparent material to create a visitors' centre, and the excavation of a chamber in St John's Street to house the complete and unique collection of 29 tapestries - the largest set based on Rubens's cartoons in the world. This would be a fitting showcase for their "sheer monumental size".
The Times has obtained visual representations of the two parts of this proposal.
Both proposals have come under siege by the NGO Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar, which claims that the developments would violate the clauses of the co-cathedral's National Monument Grade I scheduling, as well as causing irremediable damage to Valletta's underground chambers, tunnels, channels and water cisterns.
An architect commissioned by the Valletta local council, Robert Musumeci, has also said that excavation would pose an unacceptable risk.
But the foundation is strongly justifying its cause, saying the preferred option would see the courtyard remain a monument, being well aware that the cemetery of the knights within it is sacred ground.
In its impassioned justification of the proposed development, it is insisting that the museum was not being built for the sake of it, but was a dire need, particularly in view of the fact that St John's is the most visited site in Malta. Last year, it welcomed over 450,000 visitors, and last month, it saw up to 4,000 tourists on certain days.
"This is simply not sustainable and is causing too much damage to the interior," the foundation said, questioning whether the objectors were happy about the fast-vanishing tomb stones.
A visit to St John's was not a pleasurable, intellectual, or comfortable experience for the tourist, who was crammed with another 1,000 visitors, it maintained. The heat and humidity, caused also by the bodies and their respiration, not only created discomfort for the tourists, but damaged the co-cathedral.
A visit was not enlightening, due to the lack of time, caused by the fact that visitors were practically pushed through by the influx, the foundation said.
St John's was also losing the character of a church and felt "more like a marketplace than a sanctuary.
"Instead of controlling the amount of visitors, let us have a larger museum, which would exhibit in a proper manner the true legacy of the Knights of the Order of St John," the foundation appealed.
"We want to show the whole collection of tapestries, not half of it," it insisted. As it is, the visitor did not enjoy the full impact.
Displaying its artifacts in another property was not an option either "because they are St John's patrimony. This is not a collection bought over the years; they are gifts from the Grand Masters and knights to St John's. St Jerome was left in a will to the co-cathedral. Would it be right to display it elsewhere? The tapestries were from Grand Master Perellos to hang in the nave, so they must be exhibited as a set within the precincts of St John's," the foundation insisted.
Its view of keeping its original artefacts together and not dispersing them in other museums is shared by another NGO, Din l-Art Ħelwa.
The project is still in a fluid state and its parameters would be clearly defined following the carrying out of an environmental impact assessment. The choice is between digging, or building, but the foundation is not keen on developing the Merchants Street side, it reiterated.
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Marisa Bugeja
Oct 7th 2008, 23:06
The set of tapestries can be exhibited to full advantage at the main hall of the Sacra Infermeria.This has connections with the Order of St John and offers an ideal vantage point for viewing the tapestries.It is much safer than underground and would be valuable asset to this historic hall.
Conrad Busuttil
Aug 14th 2008, 09:46
I cannot but agree with Mr Galea Vincenti on proposing an adjacent palazzo's or converting buidings in streets on the perimiter of the Cathedral. After all let us not forget the fact that the entrance to the Vatican Museums is about 10 minutes walk from St. Peter's Square and outside the bastions, although adjacent to the Vatican itself. However the main entrances to both buildings are quite far apart.
To Mr Dimech on the other hand: the vast amount of air that would be going around the tapestries were they to be permanently put on display at their intended site would ruin them due to rapid oxidisation and particles in the same air coming from outside the cathedral (including pollution) as well as from the thousands of cubic metres of air that carries visitors' breaths. This apart from the stress on the drapes themselves since, if you may recall how they are hung, they are not supported all throughout their edges. If they were to be put on display in an appropriate manner in a purposely-built/dedicated site, then adequate protection including, purposely designed load-bearing mechanisms as well as air filtering mechanisms with temperature and humidity controls can be installed.
Franco Farrugia
Aug 13th 2008, 19:06
@ Mr Paul Borg - All that is news to me.
The development will be approved.
St John's Co-Cathedral is doomed!
We understand each other perfectly.
Victor Dimech
Aug 13th 2008, 17:21
The tapestries were from Grand Master Perellos to hang in the nave.So cant we just restore them and hang them back where they were ment to be hanged?With todays technology we can look after them and see that no harm is done.Maybe there is something else behind all this like paying to see St.Johns and again to the museum.What about that fine pallazzo in St Lucia Str only a few metres away?Only a small tunnel across the street to join both.
Sergio Galea Vincenti
Aug 13th 2008, 16:22
So let me understand this correctly: The Foundation is actually ready to sacrifice the sacrality of the graveyard of the Knights of St. John - who built the Co-Cathedral - for the benefit of displaying the various exhibits in full?
Excavating under St.. John's Street? But is not the street public land. Does this not require some form of permit or authority to be undertaken?
Also, I fail to see why the Foundation is so adamant in insisting on not having a permanent exhibition in an adjacent palazzo. I dare say that such an eventuality would probably be more cost effective, allow for easing of visitors over two sites and allow for further restoration of the graveyard and other parts of the Co-Cathedral. It's not unheard that such collections are housed in separate buildings and it's not as if we're talking enormous or unmanageable distances! The collections would still be in their environment, Valletta, of which the Co-Cathedral is undoubtedly a gem.
One other thing: I wonder what the Curia' Environment Commission says about this project... With regards to Din l-Art Helwa, in my eyes it has severely tarnished its credibility with this stance it has taken.
Paul Borg
Aug 13th 2008, 15:52
@ Franco Farrugia, this is what you wanted, from the St. John's Foundation website; The members of the Council of the Foundation for the year 2007 – 2008 are:
Mr Paul A. Attard (President)
Mgr. Lawrence Cachia
H.E. Mr Richard Cachia Caruana
Mgr Philip Calleja
Dr Philip Farrugia Randon
Mgr Lawrence Mifsud
Now you know why the funds for this extravagant project were released and why its being fast-tracked.
Cynthia Degiorgio is not one of the Foundation Board, she is the Curator, also she is on the Din l-Art Helwa committee.
Join the dots .....
Franco Farrugia
Aug 13th 2008, 15:01
@ Jonathan Farrugia - We have a duty to keep St John's Co-Cathedral INTACT. INTACT means exactly that - INTACT!!!!!!!
Showing the treasures of St John is a second priority to that of preserving the fabric of the Cathedral as it is!!!!!!
Leave the Cathedral building alone! Do not make any modifications to it.
How can the Foundation say that the Courtyard is itself a MONUMENT, yet at the same time say that destroying it and building over it is one of its options, albeit not its favourite? This is a contradiction.
Does the Foundation know what it is doing?
Who are the members of the Foundation? Can The Times name them, one by one? What connections does each member of the Foundation have with various entitities, such as with this same newspaper, with other newspapers, with the Government, with the Opposition, with various other entities such as Din l-Art Helwa, with develpers, architects???? Can we know? Or is it not in the interest of the people (Mhux fl-Interess tal-Poplu)?
Why does the Foundation hold it against us, the 'objectors', for being interested in the welfare of the Cathedral? Or do they discourage the public's interest ?
v.pulis
Aug 13th 2008, 12:16
So in order to exhibit Perellos' gioia, we risk damaging la Cassiere's! and I still fail to see where the cafeteria/canteen is to be built.
Jonathan Farrugia
Aug 13th 2008, 11:44
This is an excellent explanation of the proposed extension
of the Co-Cathedral Museum.
The newspaper edition has a spectacular image of the proposed
Tapestry Hall that goes to show how better exhibited will be
St John's unique collection of 29 Gobelin tapestries
in the proposed extension.
One should judge this proposal rationally and
in the light of continuous developments
that go on in other world class museums.
St John's Museum is no less and Malta cannot
keep exhibiting the collection of its main monument and tourist attraction
in 1960s rooms that nowadays definitely cannot cater
for the amounts of visitors that will surely continue to increase
with more tourists and more visitors on cruise ships.
At present, a large part of the Co-Cathedral Museum's collection
is hidden away and cannot be exhibited while the rest
is very poorly shown.
This is a collection commissioned or donated specifically
to the Co-Cathedral, mostly by the Grand Masters
each of whom donated an appropriate gift to St John's
known as a 'gioia'.
Malta has a duty to past generations of Maltese, Knights and Grand Masters
and to future generations of Maltese
to show fittingly and appropriately
these treasures it has been bequeathed.
M.Degiorgio
Aug 13th 2008, 10:01
We will never learn!
May I remind all the powers to be that Malta, like the planet, does not belong to the actual generation neither to the government or associations or NGOs, but to our children and all future generations.
We have no right to act hastily and senselessly. If only the Knights were still here, maybe then we will still have a city to be proud of.
v.pulis
Aug 13th 2008, 09:48
In the report no mention was made of the proposed cafeteria . Where does this amenity fit in the drawing or is it going to be an open air feature?! Just curious.