Parish Church of St Joseph - Manikata, Malta - Modern Church Inspired by the Ġirna

The distinctive Parish Church of St Joseph in Manikata, designed by Richard England with sweeping curved forms inspired by Malta’s traditional rural ġirna.

This photograph shows the Parish Church of St Joseph in Manikata, Malta, one of the island’s most distinctive examples of modern religious architecture. Broad curved walls and sculptural volumes dominate the exterior, while the warm earthy finish and restrained white cross give the building an appearance very different from Malta’s traditional Baroque limestone churches. The church was designed by renowned Maltese architect Richard England, who drew inspiration from the ġirna, the small corbelled stone huts traditionally constructed by farmers in the Maltese countryside. Rather than copying a historic architectural style, England transformed these familiar rural forms into a modern place of worship designed around the needs of the community and the celebration of the liturgy. Construction extended over more than a decade, and the church was completed and blessed in 1974. Manikata subsequently became an independent parish in 1975, with the church dedicated to St Joseph serving as its parish church. Its unconventional design has since become an important landmark of modern Maltese ecclesiastical architecture.