Lorenzo Gafà

Who was Lorenzo Gafà?

Lorenzo Gafà was a Maltese baroque architect.

Born in Vittoriosa, Gafà began his working life as a stone carver and his brother was the renowned sculptor Melchiorre. By the early 1660s he had developed a strong interest in architectural design and in 1661 is known to have been involved in the choir of St. Philip, Zebbug. In the early 1660s he worked on the reredos of the main altar in the church of Sta Scolastica and in the Dominican church of the Annunciation, both in his native town of Vittoriosa. He is also known to have designed part of the church of St Nicholas, in Valletta.

He worked on the church of St. Paul, Rabat; Sarria church in Floriana in 1676 and the Carmelite church, in Mdina and had worked on various structures in Valletta by 1680. In Mdina where he undertook much work, he was assigned to design the Bishop’s Palace and between 1697 and 1702 he designed and supervised the construction of the church of the St. Paul's Cathedral, Mdina.

He designed a great number of other cathedrals in the 1680s and 1690s such as St. Catherine in Żejtun beginning in 1692 and in 1699 Our Lady of Victory in Valletta.

He also designed the parish church in Qrendi. He died in 1703.