St. John’s Co-Cathedral was built in the late 16th century by the Order of St. John, the Knights Hospitaller who once ruled Malta. Dedicated to St. John the Baptist, the cathedral served as the conventual church of the Knights, and you can still find tokens of their presence etched into its very stones. Malta pilgrimages often begin here in Valletta, a fitting place to start a journey that follows in the footsteps of St. Paul, whose shipwreck brought Christianity to this island nearly two thousand years ago.
The interior is considered one of the finest examples of high Baroque architecture anywhere in Europe. Gilded stone carvings, painted ceilings, and inlaid marble tombstones cover almost every surface, each one marking the resting place of a Knight of the Order. The Oratory houses two paintings by Caravaggio, including his largest surviving work, The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, painted during his stay in Malta in 1608.
