The St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation recently organised a conference on ‘The Physiognomy of Cathedrals: Conservation Strategies’ and invited top European cathedrals to participate.

This high-level conference, held between July 1 and 2 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, was held to mark the 20th anniversary of the St John’s Co-Cathedral Foundation. Its aim was to convene conservators, academics and curators from different cathedrals in Europe to showcase conservation projects and create a network for sharing knowledge, good practices and experience.

Eighteen case studies of conservation projects carried out at cathedrals in Italy, Malta, the UK, France, Poland and Austria were, in fact, presented.

The conference was addressed by Archbishop Charles Scicluna; José Herrera, Minister for Cultural Heritage, the Arts and Local Government; Clayton Bartolo, Minister of Tourism and Consumer Protection; Stefano Cela, from the Opera Della Primaziale Pisana; and Mgr Emmanuel Agius, the president of the foundation.

In his opening address, Mgr Agius said: “There is no better way of celebrating the success story of the state-of-the-art restoration and preservation projects carried out by the foundation during the past 20 years than with a European conference on conservation strategies. The restoration and conservation projects embarked upon by the foundation have embraced a wide range of works of art, together with many architectural features of the Church fabric.”

The conference was held in collaboration with the Opera della Primaziale Pisana, which is responsible for the conservation of the monuments in Piazza del Duomo in Pisa. The second part of the conference will be held in this Italian city on October 28 and 29.

The Malta conference was supported by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage, the Arts and Local Government and the Ministry of Tourism and Consumer Protection.

The 20th anniversary of the foundation will also be marked by the opening of the Caravaggio Wing, the restoration of the oratory and a publication on the restoration works carried out in the last 20 years.

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.