St.Helen's Basilica in Birkirkara
The Basilica of St Helen is the fourth church to serve as the parish church of the town of B’Kara since it was made a parish in 1402. The foundation stone was laid by Bishop Gori Mancini on the 27 th April 1727.
The church was designed in the baroque style by the architect Salvu Borg and was completed in 1745. The church was consecrated by Bishop Labini in 1782 and was dedicated to Saint Helena, (Empress). In 1950 Pope Pius XII elevated the status of the church to that of a Basilica.
The titular statue of St Helen was commissioned by Chevalier Vincenzo Borg,better known as Brared, on the 26 August 1833. It had long been the wish of Brared, a chief benefactor of the Basilica, to give the church a processional statue of the patron saint. Salvatore Psaila was entrusted with the job and worked solidly for 4 years until it was finally delivered to a joyous community on the 18 July 1837. 82 years later it was regilded and restored by Francesco Coleiro in the capital city Valletta.
The ceiling of the basilica is decorated with a series of frescoes, mostly the work of the Italian artist Prof Virginio Monti, and were painted over a period of four years between 1905 and 1910. They depict scenes from the life of St Helen and her son the Emperor Constantine the Great with particular emphasis on St Helen’s discovery of the true Cross. The central nave was designed in various coloured marble by Ġan Anton Durante in1762, and the marble statue of John the Baptist baptising Christ which flanks the entrance to the church was added in 1955.
The principal altar contains no less than 16 different types of polychromatic marble and is the work of marble expert Salvu Psaila. It was designed and built in the first half of the 19 th century. The provost’s chair which is seen separate from the rest of the choir on the left-hand side was initially used by the first Provost and original founder of the Collegiate church, Dun Filippu Borg. Dun Borg was born in 1567 and died in 1649. The dome of the apse above the choir is the work of the Maltese artist Guzeppi Cali and depicts the Glory of St Helen. It was painted in 1883.