St John’s Co-Cathedral granted planning permit for museum extension

MEPA has approved planning permission for the extension and modernisation of the St John’s Co-Cathedral Museum in Valletta.

The project will allow the museum to proficiently display nearly all of the priceless artefacts within the Cathedral that have either been hidden from the public view or inadequately displayed while significantly enhance the visitors’ experience.

The major extension works include the rehabilitation of the existing under-utilised spaces within the basement level, the construction of a new Tapestry Hall, a Caravaggio Centre and a new entrance and exit from Merchant Street that will be separate from the Church.

The restoration of the basement will provide the museum with much needed space for exhibiting its artefacts and for ancillary facilities. Once restored, the basement will also provide access to the Bartolott Crypt which today is not accessible.

The new 515m² Tapestry Hall will, for the first-time, accommodate the full 29 piece complement of Tapestries. Today, this priceless collection, which is not only unique but the largest in the world, is spread in different areas within the museum and cannot be appreciated as a complete set. Moreover, the tapestries cannot be enjoyed from an appropriate distance and some of them have other artefacts in front of them or between them.

Predominantly, at ground floor level, the only extension that will be developed, will be the addition of an Entrance Foyer accessible from Merchant Street. This Entrance Foyer will include a ticketing counter, security screening, baggage storage, cloak facilities, a book shop and access to the Museum and Church beyond the Carrapecchia wing.

This new entrance and exit will relieve some of the pressure from the Cathedral’s entrance and also allow the Museum to operate extended hours independently of the Cathedral.

The Entrance Foyer will visually integrate with the existing open courtyard which encompasses the Great Siege Cemetery. The existing podium upon which sits the Knights of the Great Siege monument shall be lowered to its original level to provide more space in the smaller courtyard.

The new Caravaggio Centre, which will provide a unique educational and cultural experience for visitors to the Co-Cathedral Museum, will be accommodated in an Annex to the Southern side of the Oratory, spread over 3 floors and will include the existing second floor currently used as St Jerome Hall by the museum. The ground floor of the new Centre, which currently housing three shops and part of the BOV offices, will be integrated to form an open plan forming the entrance and exhibition space. The open plan will have its own street entrance together with a connection to the Oratory through a currently blocked-up doorway. At second floor level the Centre will also have the facility of an auditorium that will seat a 100 visitors.

The project received the endorsement of UNESCO, following an evaluation report which was carried out by technical experts from ICOMOS, which is a non-governmental international organisation dedicated to the conservation of the world's monuments and sites.