The Nadur Basilica in Gozo : art, architecture, decoration

Abstract

This is the first time that scholarly attention is being given to the art, architecture and the decoration of the Collegiate Basilica of SS Peter and Paul at the hill-top village of Nadur on the island of Gozo. This church is undoubtedly one of the architectural highlights of the Maltese Islands and a volume dedicated to its architecture and the works of art inside it has long been overdue. Although some works have been treated separately in different studies, the art-historical significance of the fabric of the church and the collections which it holds have never been treated in a holistic manner. This volume is an indirect consequence of a public lecture which I had organised together with the Nadur parish church. This was held under the auspices of the Department of Art and Art History (then Department of History of Art) in the Faculty of Arts, University of Malta, on the 25th September 2015 to commemorate the first centenary of the inauguration of the Nadur dome. For this lecture, in which I had discussed the decoration of the dome, my colleague and esteemed friend, Professor Conrad Thake, and History graduate Daniel Meilak, M.A., were invited to treat the architectural significance and the historical background of that significant architectural undertaking. On the instigation of Professor Thake, I had suggested that the lecture should be published. The suggestion was eagerly taken up by Mgr Jimmy Xerri, the current Archpriest of Nadur parish. His ambition was much greater than ours, and he immediately proposed a volume which would discuss the entire artistic collection and the architecture of the parish church. [Excerpt from Preface]