Giovanni Barbara (1642–1728) was a

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Maltese ...

architect and military engineer. He was born in the town of

Lija Lija () is a small village in the Eastern Region, Malta, Eastern Region of Malta. Together with Attard and Balzan, it forms part of Malta's "Three villages of Malta, Three Villages" (). Lija has a baroque parish church and seven other small cha ...

. 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, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

, from 1681 until

Francesco Zerafa Francesco "Franco" Zerafa (, 1679 – 21 April 1758) was a Maltese architect and donato to the Religion. In 1714, he succeeded Giovanni Barbara as ''Capomastro delle Opere della Religione'', a post which he held until his death. Works He assis ...

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 brot ...

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 it ...

at Sa Maison in

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

, 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 () 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 after the military engi ...

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

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

, and

Palazzo Vilhena Vilhena Palace (; ), also known as the Magisterial Palace () and Palazzo Pretorio, is a French Baroque palace in Mdina, Malta. It is named after António Manoel de Vilhena, the Grand Master who commissioned it. It was built between 1726 and 172 ...

and the

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

Mdina Mdina ( ; ), also known by its Italian epithets ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortifications of Mdina, fortified city in the Western Region, Malta, Western Region of Malta which served as the island's former capital, from antiquity ...

, 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