St. John's Co-Cathedral

By Leaning into Its Past, Malta Is Shining a Light on Its Future | Condé Nast Traveler

"On my last day in Valletta I visited St. John's Co-Cathedral, a bombshell of Baroque expression with barrel-vaulted ceilings and gilded arches, to see The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist—a massive 12-by-17-foot canvas Caravaggio painted on-site in 1608 after his exile from Rome. In 2024 the cathedral added a new interactive exhibit explaining the Caravaggio–Malta connection and renamed the oratory the Caravaggio Wing; I ascended a stairway into a dark, confessional-like chamber to stand face-to-face with the painting's macabre details while projections animated the figures and illuminated each brushstroke, making the encounter an emotional journey that felt, fittingly, like the island's way of keeping the past alive while looking to the future." - Adam H. Graham