St Paul's Church, Safi

St Paul's Church
The Parish church of the Conversion of St Paul
Il-knisja Parrokkjali ta' San Pawl
St Paul's Church
35°50′01.9″N 14°29′01.0″E / 35.833861°N 14.483611°E / 35.833861; 14.483611Coordinates: 35°50′01.9″N 14°29′01.0″E / 35.833861°N 14.483611°E / 35.833861; 14.483611
Location	Safi
Country	Malta
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Dedication	Conversion of Paul the Apostle
Consecrated	10 October 1784
Architecture
Status	Active
Functional status	Parish church
Architectural type	Church
Style	Baroque Doric
Groundbreaking	1727
Completed	1744
Specifications
Number of domes	1
Number of spires	1
Administration
Parish	Safi
Archdiocese	Malta
Clergy
Archbishop	Charles Scicluna

St Paul's Church, formally known as The Parish Church of the Conversion of Saint Paul, is a Roman Catholic parish church located in the village of Safi in Malta.

The Parish

Prior to Safi becoming an independent parish in 1598, it formed part of the medieval parish of Bir Miftuħ, which is nowadays part of the parish of Gudja. The parish of St Mary of Bir Miftuħ is one of the original parishes established in the middle ages mentioned in the rollo of Bishop Senatore de Mello in 1436. In 1592, the villages of Safi, Mqabba, and Kirkop were created into a new parish with the parish church being that of St Leonard in Kirkop. On April 13, 1598 Safi became an independent parish. ^[1][2]

The church

The original church of St Paul was much smaller than the present one. It was chosen from a total of 5 churches in the village to serve as the parish church. The present church was built on the site of the original one between 1727 and 1744. The church was built on a doric style and baroque and was consecrated on October 10, 1784. ^[3]

Interior

The church has a number of paintings. Amongst these the titular painting behind the high altar depicting the conversion of St Paul by Stefano Erardi.

References