Francesco "Franco" Zerafa ( mt, Franġisk Zerafa, 1679 – 21 April 1758) was a Maltese architect and donato to the

Religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

. In 1714, he succeeded

Giovanni Barbara Giovanni Barbara (1642–1728) was a Maltese architect and military engineer. He was born in the town of Lija. He was ''Capomastro delle Opere della Religione'', the principal architect of the Order of St. John, from 1681 until Francesco Zerafa ...

as ''Capomastro delle Opere della Religione'', a post which he held until his death.

Works

He assisted

Charles François de Mondion Charles François de Mondion (6 October 1681 – 25 December 1733) was a French architect and military engineer who was active in Hospitaller Malta in the early 18th century. He was also a member of the Order of Saint John. Career Mondion was bo ...

in the designs 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 ...

, and was responsible for major decorative additions at the palace of the Grand Master during the reign of Zondadari. He was involved in the decisions over the façade of the Church of St Catherine of the Italian Langue which was designed by Carrapecchia but disputed by then Capomastro Barbara - to later take his role as Capomastro delle Opere della Religione (the principal architect of the Order of St. John) in 1714. Together with Antonio Azzopardi, he oversaw the construction of the

Manoel Theatre ( Maltese for "Manoel Theatre"; it, Teatro Manoel) is a theatre and important performing arts venue in Malta. The theatre is often referred to as simply "The Manoel", and is named after Grand Master of the Order of the Knights Hospitaller, Fr ...

to designs of

Romano Carapecchia Romano Fortunato Carapecchia (1666–1738) was an Italian Baroque architect who was active in Rome, Malta and Sicily. His designs helped transform Malta's capital Valletta into a Baroque city in the first few decades of the 18th century. Biogra ...

in 1731–32. He was one of few local architects, along Bonici and Barbara, who took a leading role in changing the local attitude from the vernacular housing to an elegant European design. Zerafa was involved in several other public projects in the eighteenth century. Among which public works he designed windmills. In 1757 he designed the Castellania in

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 ...

, but he died on 21 April 1758 before the building was completed. He was succeeded as ''Capomastro delle Opere'' by

Giuseppe Bonici Giuseppe Bonici (1707–1779) was a Maltese architect and military engineer. He held the post of ''Capomastro delle Opere della Religione'' and was the principal architect of the Order of St. John from 1761 until his death. He designed several ...

, who oversaw the construction of the Castellania until it was completed in 1760.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zerafa, Francesco 1679 births 1758 deaths 18th-century Maltese architects

Works

Further reading

References