St Andrew's Parish Church, Luqa
| Church of St Andrew | |
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| The Parish church of St Andrew | |
| Il-knisja Parrokkjali ta Sant' Andrija | |
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 Church of St Andrew
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| 35°51′37.4″N 14°29′19.8″E / 35.860389°N 14.488833°ECoordinates: 35°51′37.4″N 14°29′19.8″E / 35.860389°N 14.488833°E | |
| Location | Luqa |
| Country | Malta |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Website | Website of the Church |
| History | |
| Dedication | St Andrew |
| Consecrated | 7 December 1783 |
| Architecture | |
| Status | Active |
| Functional status | Parish church |
| Architect(s) | Giulju Muscat |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style |
Mannerist (exterior) Baroque (interior) |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Luqa |
| Archdiocese | Malta |
| Clergy | |
| Archbishop | Charles Scicluna |
| Rector | Gordon Refalo |
The Church of St Andrew is a Roman Catholic Parish church located in Luqa, Malta.
The first time that the church of St Andrew of Luqa was mentioned was towards the end of the 15th century though it seems that the church was not in a good state, thus a new one was built from 1539 till 1542.
In 1575, the Apostolic visitor Bishop Pietro Dusina reports that in that year the church of St Andrew was the main church of the village though it had no priest to administer the sacraments. Moreover, Dusina reports that the High altar had no titular painting. Consequently, he ordered that one be painted an installed in place. Dusina's report also mentions that the church had two side altars dedicated to Christ the Saviour and Our Lady. The painting of Christ the Saviour depicted Christ in his transfiguration together with Paul the Apostle, Saint Roch and Saint Sebastian. Dusina also reports that the altar of Our Lady did not have a painting though that same year one was commissioned that depicted the Nativity of Mary but which later was changed into the Nativity of Jesus. In 1600 the titular painting of the church was mentioned for the first time. It was done by Filippo Dingli and depicted Our lay with St Andrew and St Paul. In 1607 mass started to be celebrated daily in this church.
In 1634 Luqa became a separate parish from Bir Miftuh and Reverend Agostino Cassia was installed as the first parish priest. Also, in 1634 it was decided to build a new parish church and construction started the same year on the site where there were three chapels dedicated to St Julian, St Anthony of Egypt and the Visitation respectively. The church was designed by Reverend Gulju Muscat.
The present church was inspired from the Con-Cathedral in Valletta with a Mannerist architecture on the exterior and a baroque architecture on the interior. It was built on the designs of Dun Giulju Muscat. Its construction started in 1634 and completed in 1635.
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Wikipedia