To imagine Valletta’s skyline without the tower of the Pro-Cathedral is just as inconceivable as imagining St Mark’s Square in Venice, another World Heritage City, without its historic ‘campanile’.
The building is a universally renowned Valletta landmark, especially to those approaching Malta from the sea. With the bell-tower and its spire rising to over 200 feet (60 metres) from the ground, it is a historic and iconic element of the skyline of Valletta. It is a vital part of Malta’s rich cultural heritage and deeply symbolic of close Anglo-Maltese relations over more than two centuries.
Unfortunately, while somehow surviving the Axis blitz of the Second World War, the cathedral has fallen victim to time and decay, so much so that at this stage it is in dire need of restoration. Recent expert architectural inspections have identified severe problems threatening the tower, the spire and the external and internal stonework. Parts of the structure are now officially described as “unstable”. Faced with the challenges of financing a project of this stature, under the direction of the purposely-created Appeal Committee, which is led by Sir Martin Laing and Mr Martin Scicluna, the Anglican Community in Malta is working to secure a future for one of Malta’s most recognised landmarks, the St Paul's Pro-Cathedral.
“While inviting the Maltese authorities and private companies to be generous in their financial support to this tremendous cause, Dmax is proud to be lending a helping hand to the Save the Cathedral project which needs €3,000,000 for vital restoration work. By using Dmaxepaper.com & our purposely developed online web portal, the Anglican Community in Malta now enjoys an array of online assets at its disposal that will help it in reaching the desired goals now and in the years to come.” – Ray de Bono, Dmax CEO
Dmax was approached by the Appeal Committee to support the Save the Cathedral campaign with its online solutions. To this effect, a dedicated website (http://www.savethecathedral.com) has been setup to help promote this initiative in Malta and abroad while also serving as a means of receiving donations for this good cause. Dmax staff is also assisting the Save the Cathedral campaign with its Social Media efforts.
The BBC News (follow link), amongst other pretigious news media, have covered this story to-date (read more).
Related Information:
- Main Portal: http://www.savethecathedral.com
- Donate here: http://www.savethecathedral.com/donate/ (thank you!)
- BBC News mention: http://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-38934107/campaign-to-preserve-queen-s-malta-cathedral
- Anglican Community in Malta: http://www.anglicanmalta.org/
- Picture credits: S. Grixti - Wikipedia Commons - Link (thanks you!)