A catalogue of works of art at St George's basilica, Gozo

Abstract

For centuries Rabat (Victoria) was practically the only populated area in Gozo and consequently the appellatives „Rabat‟ and „Gozo‟ were synonymous. Throughout this time St George‟s church was in the core of the Borgo, where the majority of the Gozitan population resided. It is recorded to have been functioning as a parish prior to 1450. Being outside the protective walls of the medieval Castello, St George‟s church suffered the brunt of many razzias that the marauding Turkish corsairs unremittingly inflicted on Gozo. These frequent incursions many times battered the architectural framework, reducing the church of St George to a derelict building, barely capable of serving the religious needs of the community. All through these tribulations, the Gozo inhabitants had St George‟s church at their heart. The parish was never abandoned by its parishioners as they saw in it not only their religious well-being but also their identity. This can be gauged from the fact that when Bishop Dusina visited the church in 1575 he found it properly functioning. Though the church did not contain the Eucharist or the sacraments, the parish priest Don Lorenzo de Apapis still administered the sacraments to his parishioners. Mgr Dusina understood the important role that the church of St George played and he refrained from profanating it as he did in the case of the other two parishes of Savina and St James, both in Victoria. The fortunes of St George‟s church turned for the better on August 7th 1672 when the foundation stone of the present church was laid. The new church, in the form of a Latin cross, was consecrated by Bishop Paolo Alpheran de Bussan on 21st September, 1755.