St Helen's Basilica () is an 18th-century

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

church situated in

Birkirkara Birkirkara (abbreviated as B'Kara or BKR) is a city in the Eastern Region, Malta, Eastern Region of Malta. It is the second most populous on the Malta (island), island, with 24,356 inhabitants as of 2020. The town consists of five autonomous pari ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. It is built on the

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

design by Salvu Borg and built by Mason Domenico Cachia. The design was inspired by, and is similar to, the Mdina Cathedral by Lorenzo Gafa. It was built to replace the role of the main old Parish Church of St. Mary (still parish church of the area) that was damaged in the 1856 earthquake. It eventually became the

Collegiate Church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, headed by a dignitary bearing ...

and then a

Minor Basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

. The current parish archpriest is Mons Louis Suban.

History

Birkirkara is one of the 12 Maltese

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es which existed in 1436 (close to the site of Ta' Ċieda Tower in modern

San Ġwann San Ġwann () is a town in the Northern Region of Malta, with a population of 14,244 as of 2021. Prior to its establishment as a distinct municipality, it was a fragmented community comprising parts of Birkirkara and St. Julian's. San Ġwann e ...

), the year of the Rollo drawn up by the bishop of Malta, Senatore Mello. The Ta' Xennu Church was built in 1575 and rebuilt in 1692 on the site of the present church that was dedicated to the Assumption. The 17th-century church was demolished to make way for the present St. Helen Church when the parish church was at the time the old Santa Maria Church. A small chapel dedicated to the assumption was included and built within the design of the St. Helen Church as a replacement of the 17th-century church. The St. Helen's Church became parish church soon after its completion and then a basilica. The large garden space of Vincenzo Borg's townhouse was donated by Brared to build the church's front, stairs and main square. When Vincenzo died he was buried in the church's crypt. The church was designed by Maltese Architect Salvu Borg (1662-1733). The parish was dedicated to St Helen, and this was also the titular saint of the church built in the 18th century and still existing today. The church is also famous for housing Malta's largest church bell, installed around 1932. On 5 December 1630

Pope Urban VIII Pope Urban VIII (; ; baptised 5 April 1568 – 29 July 1644), born Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 August 1623 to his death, in July 1644. As pope, he expanded the papal terri ...

established the collegiate chapter of church through the papal bull ''Sacri Apostolatus Ministerio''. The present church was built in the centre of the

on a much larger scale then the previous 3 churches that stood on the site. The cornerstone of the present church was laid on 27 April 1727 by Bishop Gaspare Gori-Mancini. A medal of St Helen and the names of the then Pope and bishop were also buried with the cornerstone. The church was blessed by Bishop Paul Alphéran de Bussan on 19 April 1771. The church was then consecrated by Bishop Vincenzo Labini on 20 October 1782. The church was elevated to the dignity of a

on 18 January 1950 by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

References

External links

National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands
{{Parish churches in Malta and Gozo Collegiate churches in Malta Basilica churches in Malta Birkirkara National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands Roman Catholic churches in Malta

History

See also

References

External links