5 minute read
Casa Manresa: The Archbishop’s Curia
from Vigilo 56
by dinlarthelwa
Casa Manresa
THE ARCHBISHOP’S CURIA
Advertisement
The recently restored façade of Casa Manresa, the Archbishop’s Curia in Floriana, received a Din l-Art Ħelwa award for Architectural Heritage in 2021. This restoration and conservation project earned the prestigious Prix d’Honneur in its category. Michael Pace Ross, Administrative Secretary, Roberto Buontempo, Head of Property, and perit Daphne Fenech from CREAID received the award on behalf of the Archdiocese of Malta.
The Archbishop’s Curia is housed in Casa Manresa in Floriana. This baroque building originally stood on a high ridge with an unobstructed view of Marsamxett Harbour.
Casa Manresa began as a one-storey retreat house with a height limit of 24 palmi, as decreed by the Order of St John in 1744. It has a wide main frontage and included a semi-basement floor underneath the entire building complex. The building was eventually extended at first-floor level, comprising two large halls. The major structural intervention, and the addition of the first floor, commenced in the 1860s.
On St Calcedonius Square, Casa Manresa has an imposing main entrance with a pair of columns on either side, above an external flight of stairs. Over the main door there is an intricate sculptural group of Our Lady holding the child Jesus, flanked by St Paul the Apostle and St John the Baptist, the patron saints of Malta and of the Order of St John. The detailing of the rest of the imposing façade was never completed. Only two windows at ground floor level are complete with sculpted sills and lintels.
History of the building
Works commenced in 1743 on land bought with the proceeds from the sale of a house that Balì Fra Giovanni Battista Spinola had bequeathed to the Jesuits to be used as a retreat house. The edifice reflected the architectural tendencies of the time when the baroque style had reached its peak and developed into the rococo style. It was completed in 1751, and was opened in 1753 by Pier Francesco Rossignoli, a Jesuit priest born in Novara in Italy.
The retreat house was shut down in 1768 after the expulsion of the Jesuits from Malta, and the building subsequently passed into the hands of the Diocese of Malta. A ceremony dedicating it to Our Lady of Manresa was held on 16 March 1771. The chapel, which houses the relics of St Calcedonius, was consecrated by Bishop Labini on 23 July 1786.
In 1798, Casa Manresa was taken over by the French as barracks for 600 troops. These were replaced by troops from the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily when the British entered Floriana on 4 September 1800. Casa Manresa was repaired and restored to the clergy in 1802. However the outbreak of the Napoleonic
The building has a wide main frontage and was originally a onestorey retreat house
Wars in May 1803 halted the evacuation of the garrison, and in 1813 Casa Manresa was used as a military plague hospital. The last battalion left Casa Manresa in 1853.
In 1858, Bishop Gaetano Pace Forno transferred the Major Seminary from Mdina to Casa Manresa, where it remained for the greater part of the twentieth century. When the Jesuits returned to Malta in 1860, they occupied the building until 1918. Between 1860 and 1867, the Provincial Curia of the Sicilian Province was domiciled at Casa Manresa.
The building complex suffered extensive damage during the Second World War, and it was later restored and modernised. Once the Seminary moved to Tal-Virtù in Rabat in 1977, the Curial administration of the Archdiocese of Malta moved to Casa Manresa from the Archbishop’s Palace in Valletta.
The restoration project
The conservation of the main façade of Casa Manresa was the first phase of a project which will include the restoration of all the façades.
Planning for this restoration project started in 2017, when studies were commissioned to survey the existing condition of the masonry fabric of the exterior façades. Built in various distinct phases, the different areas of the building exhibited different pathologies and deterioration mechanisms. The orientation of the building, its proximity to the sea, and the changes in the urban environment surrounding it, all played a part in the aging process and created unique manifestations of deterioration which required scientific studies and testing.
Interventions included the application of biocide, chemical cleaning using paper poulticing, mechanical cleaning using microblasting and surgical knives, repairs through the injection of specially designed mortar mixes, plastic repair, stone changing, consolidation treatments, and the repointing of mortar joints where necessary. Furthermore, the inclusion of protection components, such as protecting cornices and ledges with traditional deffun mortar, and the design and implementation of an easy maintenance plan will ensure the longevity of the results obtained through the initial capital investment.
The restoration of the façade was financed by the Archdiocese of Malta, following the approval of the Diocesan Finance Committee presided by Archbishop Charles Jude Scicluna.
A new lighting system
Following the rehabilitation works of the main façade, a new lighting system was inaugurated at Casa Manresa on 24 July 2021, on the feast day of St Calcedonius. The restoration of the side façade of Casa Manresa on Triq Oliver Friggieri (formerly Triq l-Argotti) was also inaugurated. Melloncelli srl, based in the province of Mantova in Italy, were entrusted with the lighting system.
The lighting project was also financed by the Archdiocese of Malta, which in recent years has stepped up its efforts in various parishes to ensure that Catholic heritage is restored for present and future generations. n
Michael Pace Ross, administrative secretary of the Archbishop’s Curia, noted that the next phase of the project is the restoration of a house situated in Triq l-Iljun corner with Triq Vincenzo Bugeja, which is linked to the Curia and will eventually be transformed into an evangelisation hub.
