Old St Joseph's in the Citadel 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 ...

Church located in the medieval walled

Cittadella Cittadella ( vec, Sitadeła) is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is in circumference with a diameter of around ...

Victoria, Gozo Victoria ( mt, Il-Belt Victoria, meaning "the city Victoria"), also known among the native Maltese as Rabat (which is the name of the old town centre) or by its title Città Victoria, is an administrative unit of Malta, the largest and most pr ...

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 ...

History

Records show that a chapel already existed on the site during the mid 16th century. In fact, when inquisitor

Pietro Dusina Pietro Dusina was an Italian Roman Catholic priest from Brescia who was the inquisitor and apostolic delegate to Malta between 1574 and 1575. Dusina was nominated inquisitor of Malta by Pope Gregory XIII on 3 July 1574, and he arrived on the island ...

visited the Citadel he recalled that there were four churches dedicated to St Lawrence, St Nicholas, St John the Baptist's and Our Saviour's, respectively. The original St Joseph's was the one dedicated to St Nicholas. Its congregation grew when Dusina deconsecrated it Lawrence's in 1575 and the faithful turned to St Nicholas' which was described as the church which was best kept and equipped. The church plan was altered by orders of Bishop

Baldassare Cagliares Baldassare Cagliares ( 1575 – 4 August 1633) was a Maltese Roman Catholic prelate who was the Bishop of Malta from 1615 until his death. Biography Baldassare Cagliares was born in Valletta in around 1575; this year is approximate and the exa ...

on plans by

Vittorio Cassar Vittorio Cassar ( mt, Vitor Cassar, 1550 – 1609), born Gio Vittorio Cassar, was a Maltese architect and military engineer. The son of the renowned architect Girolamo Cassar, he was admitted as a knight within the Order of St. John in 1587. H ...

. Works concluded by 1625. Consequently, the dedication of the church was changed from that of St Nicholas to St Joseph, the first church on the island to bear the name of St Joseph. A palace was also built adjacent to the church as a residence to Bishop Cagliares. On St Joseph's day, the Chapter of St Mary's Collegiate Church used to celebrate vespers every year from 1672. The church was severely damaged during the earthquake of 1693. Consequently, services no longer were held in the church and it was abandoned. It was only in 1930 that interest was awaken to restore the chapel. The lieutenant Governor of Malta, Sir

Harry Luke Sir Harry Charles Luke (born Harry Charles Lukach; 4 December 1884 – 11 May 1969) was an official in the British Colonial Office. He served in Barbados, Cyprus, Transcaucasia, Sierra Leone, Mandatory Palestine, Palestine, Malta, the Britis ...

expressed interest in restoring buildings which had historic value. Restoration works were at a halt when Sir Luke was transferred somewhere else. In 1973 restoration works commenced once more and works were completed by 19 March 1975. The church was blessed by Bishop

Nikol Joseph Cauchi Nikol is a given name and a surname. Given name * Nikol Pashinyan, an Armenian revolutionary and politician Surname * Jenna Nikol, alias of the American model Kayden Kross * Ronny Nikol, German football player See also * Nicol * Nikola * Ni ...

on August 15, 1976.Busuttil, R
"Il-Knisja ta’ San Ġużepp “Il-Qadim” ~ Ċittadella, Għawdex ~"
''Kappelli Maltin''. Retrieved on 27 May 2017.

References

{{Citta Victoria Roman Catholic churches in Malta Victoria, Gozo National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands