In 1736 and 1737, Guiseppe Valerio Abela gifted the site of St Barbara Church and adjoining Friary in Kalkara  to the Capuchin Monks. The location concured with the Capuchins’ practice of planting their friaries beyond the then urban footprints. Indeed, it lies in close proximity to the Cottonera Lines.

The Building of the Church and Friary

The planning and building of the friary and adjoining church were triggered concurrently, though the former was completed within a shorter span. Their plans follow the principle of simplicity preached by St Francis of Assisi, and were drawn up by Fra Giuseppe, a member of the same Order and a prolific draftsman engaged in various building projects in Malta, Gozo and Sicily.

The ball was set rolling on 26 April 1736, when Inquisitor Carlo Francesco Durini and the Birgu Parish Priest led a procession of St Lawrence Church to the site. Said Parish Priest carried and placed a cross on the chosen construction site. Works progressed swiftly. The first group of friars moved into these premises, the second Capuchin Friary in Malta,  by the following 30 December.

Meanwhile, the first stone of St Barbara Church was laid by Bishop Paolo Alpheran de Bussan on 18 June 1736. The choice of St Barbara as titular was in memory of Giuseppe Valerio Abela’s mother, one of the many victims of the 1676 plague outbreak. Construction works were successfully completed in August 1743. Fr Giuseppe Grech, the Community’s Superior, blessed and inaugurated it soon after. Eventually, on 18 June 1747, Bishop de Bussan officiated the consecration ceremony.

Church Façade and Belltower

In 1754, the church façade was transformed into a projecting portico. This comprises three bays and is set on two tiers. The lower tier is demarcated by a central arched opening flanked by square doors, surmounted by oval windows, while the upper tier consists of a central round-headed opening and two large niches holding the statues of St Barbara and Santa Liberata respectively. The crowning pediment and finials harmonise and distinguish further the resultant composition. The cubic and plain massing of the adjoining compound is also articulated by a towering belfry with a clock face on each side. Its mechanism was produced Michelangelo Sapiano between 1873 and 1875. The belltower was rebuilt in 1946 due to the serious damages sustained during World War II.

Church Interior

The church comprises an aisle and six chapels. Simplicity reigns supreme, while the composition and detailing of the rear apse is appreciably reminiscent of Romano Carapecchia’s style. Equally interesting is the canvas of the martyrdom of St Barbara, executed by Agostino Mausucci and paid for by the Grand Prior of the German Langue Fra Filipp Wilhelm von Nesselrode Reichenstein. This altarpiece is flanked by two canvases by Antonio Falzon, representing St Francis of Assisi and St Dominic respectively.

Other notable works of art treasured in this church include the paintings by Francesco Zahra, Rocco Buhagiar and Antonio Grech, the effigies of Christ the Redeemer and St Joseph by Agostino Camilleri, and the corpo santo of St Liberata. The remains integrated in the latter were discovered in the Roman Catacombs of St Callistus and shipped over to Malta in 1752.

St Barbara Church boasted of other works of art that did not survive the tumultuous stay of the French (1798-1800) and the destruction inflicted by enemy bombing during World War II.

Milestones

1736-7: donation of land to Capuchin Friars and initiation of works

1743: completion of church

1747: consecration of church

1754: reconstruction of church façade

1752: shipping over of St Liberata corpo santo

1875: installation of clock in belltower

1946: reconstruction of belltower