Giovanni Barbara (1642–1728) was a Maltese architect and military engineer. He was born in the town of

Lija Lija ( mt, Ħal Lija) is a small village in the Central Region of Malta. It forms part of the Three villages of Malta, along with Attard and Balzan. Lija has a baroque parish church and seven other small chapels. The parish church is dedicated ...

. He was ''Capomastro delle Opere della Religione'', the principal architect 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 ...

, from 1681 until

Francesco Zerafa Francesco "Franco" Zerafa ( mt, Franġisk Zerafa, 1679 – 21 April 1758) was a Maltese people, Maltese architect and donor, donato to the Order of St. John, Religion. In 1714, he succeeded Giovanni Barbara as ''Capomastro delle Opere della Religion ...

became his assistant in 1714 and eventually succeeded him.

Biography

In 1685 it was decided to build a new parish church for Lija. The town's parish priest, Don Anton Camillieri, invited Barbara and

Lorenzo Gafà Lorenzo Gafà (1639–1703) was a Maltese Baroque architect and sculptor. He designed many churches in the Maltese Islands, including St. Paul's Cathedral in Mdina and the Cathedral of the Assumption in Victoria, Gozo. He was the younger broth ...

to prepare designs for the church, and Barbara's design was chosen. The church would be completed during the 18th century. He designed a

skew arch A skew arch (also known as an oblique arch) is a method of construction that enables an arch bridge to span an obstacle at some angle other than a right angle. This results in the faces of the arch not being perpendicular to its abutments and its ...

at Sa Maison in

Floriana Floriana ( mt, Il-Furjana or ''Il-Floriana''), also known by its title Borgo Vilhena, is a fortified town in the South Eastern Region area of Malta, just outside the capital city Valletta. It has a population of 2,205 as of March 2014. Floriana i ...

, which was a marvel of construction and became known as the ''arco Barbara''. This was built as part of the

Floriana Lines The Floriana Lines ( mt, Is-Swar tal-Furjana) are a line of fortifications in Floriana, Malta, which surround the fortifications of Valletta and form the capital city's outer defences. Construction of the lines began in 1636 and they were named ...

fortifications, and it was completed in 1726. Several other buildings, such as the Church of St. James 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 ...

, and

Palazzo Vilhena Vilhena Palace ( mt, Il-Palazz De Vilhena; it, Palazzo Vilhena), also known as the Magisterial Palace ( mt, Palazz Maġisterjali) and Palazzo Pretorio, is a French Baroque palace in Mdina, Malta. It is named after António Manoel de Vilhena, ...

and the

Seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

Mdina Mdina ( mt, L-Imdina ; phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤈, Maleṭ; grc, Μελίττη, Melite (ancient city), Melíttē; ar, مدينة, Madīnah; ), also known by its Italian-language titles ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortifications of Mdin ...

, are sometimes also attributed to Barbara. There is no proof about these claims and they were most likely designed by other architects. The Mdina Seminary was completed in 1740, around ten years after the death of Barbara. Barbara died in 1728 and was buried in the Lija parish church.

References

1642 births 1728 deaths 17th-century Maltese architects 18th-century Maltese architects Maltese military engineers People from Lija Architects of Roman Catholic churches {{Malta-stub