At a ceremony on Friday, the Palazzo De Piro Cultural Centre in Mdina was officially launched.

Until some years ago, this building at the side of the cathedral used to house St Dorothy School. In 2005, the Cathedral Chapter purchased the building from the nuns in order to create an extension of the Cathedral Museum on the other side of the cathedral.

Before becoming a school, the palace belonged to the De Piro family among whom is the founder of the Missionary Society of St Paul, Mgr De Piro.

Parts of the building date from the 15th century with appendages added in the successive centuries.

As Monsignors Carmel Zammit and Victor Grech told the assembled guests, the aim of the Cathedral Chapter was to create a space for cultural, religious and social events.

Work on the building – the parts that were opened are beautifully restored by Architect Martin Xuereb – is still ongoing and other parts will be restored in the near future.

The Cathedral Chapter has charged the Xara Palace to run the centre. According to a brochure handed out at the opening ceremony, the cultural centre will include:

Museum extension: the aim is to hold three major exhibitions each year that explore themes related to local culture. This is ‘the appropriate space’ to show the various collections held at the Cathedral Museum and ‘adds significantly to the cultural exhibits on display within Mdina’.

Recitals: The Palazzo De Piro Cultural Centre can also be the venue for premier cultural, artistic and heritage events and exhibitions.

Xpresso Café by Infinitely Xara is dedicated to the same high standards in catering and hospitality as The Xara Palace Relais & Châteaux and uses fresh produce from nearby valleys and slopes. The café has a gift shop next to it.

Function Venue: The Cultural Centre offers a fully catered, state-of-the-art facility for events, meetings, small conferences, corporate dinners, private receptions, banquets and cultural activities from 10 people to 300.

Cafa Exhibition

One of the rooms of the palazzo is housing an exhibition of works in wax by well-known Maltese artist Melchiorre Cafa (1635 – 1667). The waxworks, including The Nativity, The Adoration of the Shepherds and others were, until 2008, in the sitting room of the sacristy of the Mdina Cathedral and mostly unrecognisable as they were covered with a coating of gypsum and silver leaf. Painstaking restoration interventions carried out by Sante Guido and Giuseppe Mantella have revealed the original splendour of the waxworks. These works are small masterpieces by a sculptor active in Rome during the Baroque period.