The Church of the Risen Lord in Tarxien was built on the former site of a smaller church to accommodate the needs of the growing population of the village.

Mgr Valerio Vigorelli, architect and director of the school of Christian art at the Istituto Beato Angelico in Milan was entrusted with the design of the new church. His designs were submitted to the rector Dun Gużepp Theuma in 1963 with building works commenc­ing a year later. The construction of the church was executed by architect and structural engineer Italo Raniolo.

This church was one of the first Modernist inspired ecclesiastical buildings in Malta, a time when reforms instigated by Vatican Council II had a positive impact on the path towards modernism, however, hybrid churches with elements of classicism still reigned supreme.

The church is based on an elliptical plan. Its curved banded walls at their highest point at the entrance are stopped short on either side by two elongated engaged columns to define an unassuming double width entrance. The patterned glass windows above continue almost the entire height of the façade.

The skilled use of the local limestone to create the curvature and decoration in the structure gives the impression of art-deco like features rarely seen on the Maltese Islands. The church was eventually consecrated in 1987.

The Malta Environment and Planning Authority scheduled the Church of the Risen Lord as a Grade 2 monument.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.