The present Gozo cathedral was erected between 1697 and 1711, on the plans of the well-known Maltese architect Lorenzo Gafà (1639-1703), replacing the former church on the same site that had been severely damaged by an earthquake on January 11, 1693. The new edifice was duly consecrated on October 11, 1716, by bishop Joaquin Cannaves (1713-21), thus marking October as an important month in the history of the cathedral.

Plan of the Gozo cathedral. Courtesy: Mgr Joseph. Bezzina

Bishop Joaquin Canaves (1713-21): he consecrated the citadel’s new collegiate church (now the cathedral) in 1714. Photo: Wikipedia.com

However, October also marks another important date and event: on October 12, 1435, the former church, known as the matrice, is mentioned for the first-known time in a document, the will of a Gozitan, Nucio de Episcopo, drawn up by notary Andrea de Beniamino, wherein the church dedicated to The Assumption of the Virgin Mary in the Gozo Citadel is referred to as a matrice – Sanctae Mariae matricis Ecclesiae.

This church is similarly referred to in other 15th-century documents, such as wills drawn up on February 18, 1445; May 14, 1489; and July 1, 1490. The use of the word matrice is important not only because it denotes the importance of this particular parish church in Gozitan life but because it strongly indicates that at least one other parish church had been dismembered from it in the past.

Aerial view of the Gozo citadel with the cathedral clearly marked in red.

It is also a strong indication that an unknown parish history of Gozo existed prior to 1435 though almost all documentation has been lost, probably as a result of the Muslim incursion of 1551, which devastated Gozo ‒ its population was almost totally captured and carried away into slavery. This full-scale razzia also resulted in the loss – through destruction or, possibly, plunder – of the island’s records up to that date.

Although the Turks ransacked the church in 1551 and Gozo was virtually depopulated, the parish was already functioning again by September 1554

However, there is evidence of the existence of at least three other Gozitan parishes that were still functioning in 1551 and which are all mentioned in 16th-century documentation. All were situated at Rabat (modern Victoria) and dedicated to St George, St Mary, known as Ta’ Savina, and St James. Over time, the last two ceased to exist as parishes.

Gozo cathedral vault paintings, depictions by Ġanni Vella (1885-1977) in 1909-17 but the pendentives under the false dome are by Ignazio Cortis (1826-98) in 1888. Photo: Daniel Cilia; Courtesy: Gozo Cathedral Chapter

A number of pre-1551 documents, mainly wills, impart an idea of what the Citadel’s parish church was like at the end of the 15th and during the first half of the 16th centuries. Like the Mdina cathedral in Malta, a number of side chapels were annexed to the main church, all having separate entrances and erected by some of the more important Gozitan families, mainly of noble lineage. These chapels included: the chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto, built according to dispositions made in the will of the noble Paola de Navarra in 1494; the chapel of the Pontremolo family, mentioned in 1501; the Mompalao chapel that was being erected in 1532; and, finally, the chapel dedicated to St Catherine, belonging to the Castelletti family, and said, in January 1543, to have been recently built.

Later on, in the 18th century, the chapels were replaced by side aisles that medieval Maltese and Gozitan churches seem to have lacked. The matrice was patronised by the most affluent sector of the Gozitan population, and the rich preferred to be buried in it. This led to a number of endowments that ensured the upkeep and maintenance of the church.

Although the Turks ransacked the church in 1551 and, as already stated, Gozo was virtually depopulated, the parish was already functioning again by September 1554. The 1565 Great Siege of Malta left Gozo virtually untouched and, in 1575, parish priest Rev. Antonio Attard testified, during Mgr Pietro Dusina’s apostolic visit, that his parishioners numbered 800 souls.

There were also a number of small independent churches normally called chapels: four in the citadel, nine at Rabat, and 32 in the countryside. By the 1630s, the number of parishioners had increased to about 1,600.

Bishop Baldassare Cagliares (1615-33): he instituted the matrice (the present cathedral) as a collegiate church in 1623. Photo: Wikipedia.com

On June 6, 1623, Bishop Mgr Baldassare Cagliares (1615-33) raised the matrice to collegiate dignity with six canonries, including the archpriest. The number of canons was subsequently increased by another 12 on different occasions between 1663 and 1880, to bring the number of canonries to 18. Some of them were established on the funds of about 26 small churches (chapels) deconsecrated around the middle of the 17th century.

In 1799, archpriest  Francesco Saverio Cassar (1746-1805) – who led the anti-French Gozitan revolt in 1798-1800 – was already advocating that, should Gozo become a separate diocese, the collegiate church should become its cathedral. This dream came true on September 16, 1864, when Pope Pius IX promulgated the bull Singularia Amore declaring the creation of the Gozo diocese with the citadel parish church as its cathedral. Archpriest Michael F. Buttigieg became the first bishop of Gozo.

Over the years, various parishes had been dismembered from the matrice, including the following six during the 17th century: Xewkija (1678); Għarb (1679); and Sannat, Xagħra, Nadur and Żebbuġ all in 1688. The parochial limits of the two existing Rabat (present Victoria) parishes were established in 1623 but, in 1689, the latter parish was integrated into the administration of the archpriest of the matrice, a state of affairs that was to last till 1955.

The titular statue of the Assumption, created in Rome in 1897 and presented to the cathedral by the Leone Band Club in 1956. Photo: Daniel Cilia; Courtesy: Gozo Cathedral Chapter

The titular feast is celebrated on August 15, a celebration that includes a procession with the statue of The Assumption of the Virgin, an 1897 life-size effigy created in Rome and presented to the cathedral by the Leone Band Club in 1956. Other processions include those of Corpus Christi, the Virgin of the Holy Rosary and Good Friday, the last-mentioned instituted as late as 1968. There are three confraternities within the parish: The Blessed Sacrament, instituted by Mgr Pietro Dusina in 1575; the Virgin of the Holy Rosary; and the Assumption.

Erected in the shape of a Latin cross, the cathedral houses eight side altars with the following dedications: the Virgin of Solidad; the Last Supper; the Flight to Egypt; St Philip Neri; the Transfiguration of Christ; the Virgin of the Holy Rosary; St Ursula; and St Francis de Paule. The titular paintings are the works of various artists including Giuseppe d’Arena (1643-1719), Michele Busuttil (1762-1831), Francesco Zahra (1710-73), and Giuseppe Hyzler (1787-1858).

The titular painting (1791) at the Gozo cathedral by Michele Busuttil (1762-1831), depicting the Assumption. Photo: Daniel Cilia; Courtesy: Gozo Cathedral Chapter

The main altarpiece of The Assumption is a 1791 depiction by the already-mentioned Michele Busuttil. It was solemnly crowned in 1975 by Croatian Cardinal Franco Seper (1905-81). The vault paintings are works executed by Ġanni Vella (1885-1977) between 1909 and 1917, except the pendentives under the dome, which are the work that Ignazio Cortis (1826-98) carried out in 1888.

The Gozo cathedral trompe d’oeil by Antonio Manuele da Messina, inaugurated in 1739 and restored in 2019. Photo: Daniel Cilia; Courtesy: Gozo Cathedral Chapter

Instead of a real dome, there is a magnificent trompe d’oeil (complete with a gecko on one of the window panes) executed by the Sicilian quadraturista/scenographic painter from Messina, Antonio Manuele, known as Pippi, in c. 1733 and unveiled on March 24, 1739. This painting amply shows Pippi’s mature grasp of the mathematical complexities of sotto-in-su architectural perspective. An intervention on this painting was carried out in 1823 but it has now been magnificently restored by the Maltese restorers PrevArti in 2019.

The façade of the Gozo cathedral erected in 1711, designed by Lorenzo Gafà (1639-1703).

The façade of the cathedral is divided into three bays through four pilasters, with the central one housing its only ornate portal and crowned by a centrepiece which also includes a statue of the Virgin in an ornate niche, similar to the portal, flanked by two pilasters. Well-positioned flights of steps lead up to the church, which is served by a single belfry placed at its rear.

The cathedral also houses the seat of the chapter of monsignors, a spacious sacristy and a museum.

Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the help of Mgr Joseph Bezzina in the compilation of this article.