Malta - Siggiewi - Trejqa tal-Providenza - Church of Our Lady of Divine Providence 05 ies

Michele Cachia ( mt, Mikiel Cachia; 30 September 1760 – 24 January 1839) was a Maltese architect and military engineer. He is also known for his role during the Maltese uprising of 1798–1800.

Life

Michele Cachia was born on 30 September 1760 in the town of

Żejtun Żejtun ( mt, Iż-Żejtun ) is a city in the South Eastern Region of Malta, with a population of 11,218 at end 2016. Żejtun is traditionally known as Città Beland, a title conferred by the grandmaster of the Order of the Knights of Malta, F ...

. He was the cousin of

Antonio Cachia Antonio Cachia (1739–1813) was a Maltese architect, civil and military engineer and archaeologist who was active in the late 18th and early 19th century. He was the son of the architect Gio Domenico Cachia, who was possibly the same person as ...

, another architect and engineer. In April 1784, he applied for the post of ''perito agrimensore''. Like his father and grandfather, Cachia also worked in the construction of the Żejtun Parish Church. He was also an

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

within the Żejtun militia while Malta was ruled by the Order of St. John. Cachia took part in the Maltese uprising of 1798–1800 against the French occupation of Malta. He designed a number of batteries for the insurgents, including the

Corradino Batteries The Corradino Batteries ( mt, Batteriji ta' Kordin) were a series of artillery batteries on Corradino Heights, near Paola, Malta, that were built by Maltese insurgents during the French blockade of 1798–1800. The batteries formed part of a cha ...

Tal-Borg Battery Tal-Borg Battery ( mt, Batterija tal-Borg) was an artillery battery near Tarxien, Malta, built by Maltese insurgents during the French blockade of 1798–1800. It was part of a chain of batteries, redoubts and entrenchments encircling the Fre ...

and the Żejtun Batteries. In 1799, he also designed a

gunpowder magazine A gunpowder magazine is a magazine (building) designed to store the explosive gunpowder in wooden barrels for safety. Gunpowder, until superseded, was a universal explosive used in the military and for civil engineering: both applications requ ...

at San Rocco Battery. Between 1801 and 1821, Cachia lived 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 ...

, a suburb of the capital

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 ...

. In 1802, he went to England as part of a delegation of Maltese people. Cachia was responsible for the construction of the hospital in Rabat, Gozo. His most famous work is the

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

of the Church of Our Lady of Divine Providence in

Siġġiewi Siġġiewi ( mt, Is-Siġġiewi, ), also called by its title Città Ferdinand, is a city and a local council in the Southern Region of Malta. It is the third largest council in Malta by surface area, after Rabat and Mellieħa respectively. It ...

, which he designed after the church was damaged by a lightning strike in 1815. The church had been built in the 18th century to designs of

Andrea Belli Andrea Belli (13 October 1703 – 19 October 1772) was a Maltese architect and businessman. He designed several Baroque buildings, including Auberge de Castille in Valletta, which is now the Office of the Prime Minister of Malta. Life and care ...

. Cachia had a collection of notebooks containing personal notes about property in

. 217 notebooks which contain information about the city in the late 18th and early 19th centuries have survived, and 211 of these were in the personal archive of architect André Zammit after he had discovered them in a house in

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 dedicat ...

in around 1990. After Zammit's death in 2020, his family donated the collection of manuscripts including Cachia's work to the

National Archives of Malta The National Archives of Malta ( mt, L-Arkivji Nazzjonali ta' Malta) is the central archive maintained by the Mediterranean island nation of Malta. The Archives has been housed in the Grandmaster's Palace for most of its lifetime, having move ...

in 2022.

References

1760 births 1839 deaths Maltese military engineers Maltese military personnel Maltese rebels People from Żejtun 18th-century Maltese architects 19th-century Maltese architects {{Malta-stub