The Chapel of St Nicholas ( mt, Kappella ta' San Nikola) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

chapel located in

Fort Ricasoli Fort Ricasoli ( mt, Forti Rikażli) is a bastioned fort in Kalkara, Malta, which was built by the Order of Saint John between 1670 and 1698. The fort occupies a promontory known as Gallows' Point and the north shore of Rinella Bay, commanding th ...

Kalkara Kalkara ( mt, Il-Kalkara) is a village in the South Eastern Region of Malta, with a population of 3,014 as of March 2014. The name is derived from the Latin word for lime (Calce), and it is believed that there was a lime kiln present there sin ...

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 ...

. It was built between 1696 and 1698 as a parish church for the fort's garrison, and it was dedicated to Saint Nicholas of Bari. The chapel remained in use until the fort was decommissioned in the 1960s, and it fell into a state of disrepair. Currently there are plans to restore the chapel along with the rest of the fort.

History

The Order of St John began to construct

in 1670. It was standard practice to include chapels in Hospitaller fortifications, and the military engineer was appointed to draw up plans for the chapel. Blondel initially proposed a church set within the fortification walls, but it was later decided to build it in a more central location near the fort's main gate. On 29 September 1693,

Pope Innocent XII Pope Innocent XII ( la, Innocentius XII; it, Innocenzo XII; 13 March 1615 – 27 September 1700), born Antonio Pignatelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 July 1691 to his death in September 1700. He ...

declared that the fort's chapel would be a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

under the Order's jurisdiction. Work on the chapel commenced sometime after 31 March 1696. Construction and maintenance was funded by the ''Fondazione Cotoner'' which had been established by Grand Master

Nicolás Cotoner Fra' Nicolás Cotoner y de Oleza (Catalan: ''Nicolau Cotoner i d'Olesa''; 1608, Mallorca – 29 April 1680, Malta) was a Catalan knight of Crown of Aragon who served as the 61st Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta, between 1663 ...

. The chapel was consecrated on 15 May 1698 and it was dedicated to

Saint Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...

, Cotoner's namesake. The consecration ceremony coincided with the completion of the fortress, and it was attended by the new Grand Master

Ramón Perellós Ramón or Ramon may refer to: People Given name * Ramon (footballer, born 1998), Brazilian footballer * Ramón (footballer, born 1990), Brazilian footballer *Ramón (singer), Spanish singer who represented Spain in the 2004 Eurovision Song Contest ...

and various other dignitaries. The chapel was granted the status of a parish church on 19 May 1698, and it was subsequently used by the fort's garrison. In 1700, a dispute between the Bishop of Malta and the Grand Master arose over their jurisdiction on the chapel. The chapel remained in use after Malta came under

British rule The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

in the 19th century, when it served the needs of Maltese soldiers within the fort. On 10 December 1897, the chapel fell under the jurisdiction of the newly-established parish of St Joseph of

. Fort Ricasoli was decommissioned by the British military in 1964. The chapel was subsequently abandoned or used as storage space, and it fell into a state of disrepair. In 2011 it was reported that a tomb in its crypt had been desecrated. Plans to restore the chapel along with the rest of the fort were approved in 2019. The chapel 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 ...

Architecture

The Chapel of St Nicholas has a simple, militaristic design with subdued

Mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

and

Baroque 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 ...

influences. Its exterior is characterized by Tuscan

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s and a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

, and several windows allow natural light to enter the building. The chapel has a rectangular plan of about , and internally it contains three altars: a main altar dedicated to St Nicholas and secondary ones dedicated to

Our Lady of the Pillar Our Lady of the Pillar ( es, Nuestra Señora del Pilar) is the name given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the context of the traditional belief that Mary, while living in Jerusalem, supernaturally appeared to the Apostle James the Greater in AD 4 ...

and

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( grc-gre, Ἰωάννης, Iōánnēs; Aramaic: ܝܘܚܢܢ; Ge'ez: ዮሐንስ; ar, يوحنا الإنجيلي, la, Ioannes, he, יוחנן cop, ⲓⲱⲁⲛⲛⲏⲥ or ⲓⲱ̅ⲁ) is the name traditionally given t ...

. The latter two were established in 1749 and 1750 respectively. Underneath the building there is a

crypt A crypt (from Latin ''crypta'' "vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a chur ...

. This contains a main altar dedicated to

Our Lady of Sorrows Our Lady of Sorrows ( la, Beata Maria Virgo Perdolens), Our Lady of Dolours, the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows ( la, Mater Dolorosa, link=no), and Our Lady of Piety, Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names ...

and secondary altars dedicated to the Holy Cross and the

Flagellation of Christ The Flagellation of Christ, sometimes known as Christ at the Column or the Scourging at the Pillar, is a scene from the Passion of Christ very frequently shown in Christian art, in cycles of the Passion or the larger subject of the '' Life of C ...

, which were founded in 1751 and 1757 respectively.

Artworks and relics

The chapel contained a number of artworks, and the main altarpiece which depicted St Nicholas with Grand Master Cotoner was painted by

Mattia Preti Mattia Preti (24 February 1613 – 3 January 1699) was an Italian Baroque artist who worked in Italy and Malta. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Saint John. Life Born in the small town of Taverna in Calabria, Preti was called ''Il Cava ...

. The church also included a painting of Our Lady of Victories which was probably a copy of one found in Conventual Church of St John, a painting of St Nicholas which was brought to Malta by the Tolossenti family in 1530 and which was donated to the church in 1744, and a painting of Giovanni Battista Bosa, who was a former chaplain of Fort Ricasoli. About 77 relics were formerly housed in the chapel, and the most prestigious ones were housed in a box under the main altar.

References

{{reflist Baroque church buildings in Malta Church buildings of the Knights Hospitaller Kalkara Limestone churches in Malta Mannerist architecture in Malta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands Roman Catholic chapels in Malta Roman Catholic churches completed in 1698 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Malta