On Location - Malta

Malta is a Southern European island country consisting of an archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea.  It is the 10th smallest country in the world with a population density that ranks 5th in the world.   Its location in the centre of the Mediterranean has historically given it great strategic importance as a naval base, with a succession of powers having contested and ruled the islands, including the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Knights of St. John, French, and British.  Most of these foreign influences have left some sort of mark on the country's ancient culture.

Inhabited since 5000 BC, Gozo is the 2nd largest island within the Maltese archipelago. The island is rural in character and less developed than the island of Malta. Gozo is known for its scenic hills, which are featured on its coat of arms.  It is rich in historic locations such as the Ġgantija temples, which, along with the other Megalithic Temples of Malta, are among the world's oldest free-standing structures.  

Built between 1833 and the 1860s, the design of the church is based on the Pantheon in Rome, and at one point had the third largest unsupported dome in the world. The church narrowly avoided destruction during World War II, since on 9 April 1942 a German aerial bomb pierced the dome and fell into the church during Mass but failed to explode.

St John's Co-Cathedral is a Roman Catholic co-cathedral, dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. It was built by the Order of St. John between 1572 and 1577.

The church was designed by the Maltese architect Girolamo Cassar, who designed several of the more prominent buildings in Valletta. In the 17th century, its interior was redecorated in the Baroque style by Mattia Preti and other artists. The interior of the church is considered to be one of the finest examples of high Baroque architecture in Europe