The Church of Our Lady of Liesse ( mt, Knisja tal-Madonna ta' Liesse) is a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an Local councils of Malta, administrative unit and capital city, capital of Malta. Located on the Malta (island), main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, i ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. The church was built in 1740 on the site of a 17th-century church. The cupola was built to the designs of the Maltese Architect Francesco Zammit. The church is located near the shores of the

Grand Harbour The Grand Harbour ( mt, il-Port il-Kbir; it, Porto Grande), also known as the Port of Valletta, is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It has been substantially modified over the years with extensive docks (Malta Dockyard), wharves, and ...

, close to

Lascaris Battery Lascaris Battery ( mt, Batterija ta' Lascaris), also known as Fort Lascaris ( mt, Forti Lascaris) or Lascaris Bastion ( mt, Sur ta' Lascaris), is an artillery battery located on the east side of Valletta, Malta. The battery was built by the Britis ...

and the site of the fish market. It is especially venerated by the people of the port area.

History

The first stone of the Church of Our Lady of Liesse was laid down on 21 November 1620, in a ceremony attended by Grand Master

Alof de Wignacourt Fra Alof de Wignacourt (1547 – 14 September 1622) was a French nobleman who was the 54th Grand Master of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem from 10 February 1601 to his death in 1622. Unlike a number of the other Grand Masters, he was popul ...

and many other members of the

Order of St. John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headqu ...

. The church was built with funds donated by Fra Giacomo De Chess du Bellay, who was the Bailiff of Armenia. La Fontana Nuova, Valletta, Grand Harbour, 1664

La Fontana Nuova, Valletta, Grand Harbour, 1664

The church appears on the side of a 1664 sketch of the Barriera Wharf. The church was completely rebuilt by the

Langue Langue is a municipality in the Valle Department, Honduras. The town is located near the border of El Salvador and is a regional Hammock making center. Most of the town is made up of sharecroppers and day laborers. There are usually Mormon miss ...

of France in 1740, and was blessed by Bartolomé Rull. The church was consecrated by Bishop

Vincenzo Labini Vincenzo Labini (28 April 1735 – 30 April 1807) was an Italian archbishop who served as Bishop of Malta from 1780 till 1807. Biography Labini was born in Bitonto, Italy on April 28, 1735. In 1758 he was ordained priest of the Sovereign Milita ...

on 23 November 1806. The church was hit by German aerial bombardment in 1942 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, but it was repaired and reopened on 21 February 1952. It was given to the

Apostleship of the Sea The Apostleship of the Sea is an agency of the Catholic Church. It is also sometimes known as ''Stella Maris'' (Star of the Sea), and its patron is the Virgin Mary as Our Lady, Star of the Sea. Founded in Glasgow, Scotland in the early 20th centur ...

on 15 September 1961.

The church

The church is built in the

Baroque style The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

. It has a dome and a belfry which was designed by Francesco Zammit. It has three altars. The titular painting of the church depicts a legend about three knights and Our Lady of Liesse, and it was painted by Enrico Arnaux. The relics of the martyr St. Generoso are stored in the church, and they were transferred there from the chapel of

Fort Manoel Fort Manoel ( mt, Forti Manoel or ''Fortizza Manoel'') is a star fort on Manoel Island in Gżira, Malta. It was built in the 18th century by the Order of Saint John, during the reign of Grand Master António Manoel de Vilhena, after whom it i ...

. A statue of the Virgin Mary which had originally been located at

Fort Saint Elmo Fort Saint Elmo ( mt, Forti Sant'Iermu) is a star fort in Valletta, Malta. It stands on the seaward shore of the Sciberras Peninsula that divides Marsamxett Harbour from Grand Harbour, and commands the entrances to both harbours along with Fort ...

is now found in a niche in the church. The church building is a Grade 1 national monument, and it is listed on the

National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands The National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands (NICPMI) is a heritage register listing the cultural property of Malta. The inventory includes properties such as archaeological sites, fortifications, religious buildings, mon ...

Gallery

File:Valetta Ansicht Hafen.JPG, View of the church in Valletta File:Ta Liesse Church, Valletta, Malta.jpg, Aerial view of the church File:Church of Our Lady of Liesse hnapel 02.jpg, Exterior view File:Church-Our-Lady-Liesse Valletta Malta.jpg, Architectural detail

References

{{Valletta OurLady of Liesse Valletta OurLady of Liesse Valletta OurLady of Liesse Valletta OurLady of Liesse Valletta OurLady of Liesse Valletta OurLady of Liesse Valletta OurLady of Liesse Valletta OurLady of Liesse Valletta OurLady of Liesse 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Malta 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Malta

History

The church

Gallery

Further reading

References