The St John's Cathedral Foundation had been tinkering with the idea of creating adequate space to be able to display the 1711 tapestries, the gift of new grand master Perellos, for years.

Today, they finally have found a home: a massive hall overlooking Merchants Street where the 29 tapestries will be exhibited all at once.

They once used to be hung in the nave of the church from Easter to Corpus Cristi and the birth of St John the Baptist.

The foundation reasons that hanging and pulling the tapestries down does damage to them and anyway they obscure the view of the newly restored chapels.

Many years ago, the foundation came up with a scheme to dig the huge cisterns on either side of the Co-Cathedral and exhibit the tapestries there, but the archbishop, sensing a battle that could not be won, ordered the foundation to desist from the application.

But the Foundation doggedly stuck to its aim and came up with an alternative which was approved today with two members voting against.

Not all the details of the new arrangement were made public, neither at the August meeting of the board, nor today.

It would seem the idea is to separate the church from the museum, whereas today one accesses the museum from inside the church. It would also seem that the museum's entrance will be from Merchants Street while it would also seem there will be a separate Caravaggio museum with an entrance instead of the BOV branch in St John's Street.

There will also be a museum of silver artefacts that will be housed in the Bartolott Crypt underneath the Oratory of the Beheading and separate exhibition rooms to display the church vestments and the choral books as well as the unique Cappella Ardente of which there is no similar not even in the Vatican.

Speaking to the board, curator Cynthia de Giorgio outlined the restoration work the foundation has carried out. The chapels have been restored and the wall decorations re-gilded as well as the choir stalls and the grand masters' crypt. 10 to 20 tombstones are restored every year and so far a quarter of them have been restored. So far, €7 million have been spent by the foundation on restoration works, all drawn from the entrance fees.

St John's is the most popular site tourists visit in Malta but many of its precious collections lie hidden from view in cupboards, including the illuminated manuscripts brought over by Grand Master L'Isle Adam from Rhodes.

The tapestries were the gift of Grand Master Perellos upon his election in 1697. The 29 tapestries show the Triumph of the Eucharist in glorious colour and were manufactured in Brussels on cartoons by Peter Paul Rubens. The order was such a big one that all other work in Brussels stopped while they were being completed.

Starting in 2006, the tapestries were sent to Brussels on special flights by a Belgian Air Force plane to be restored. Twelve have been restored so far and five smaller ones.

Architect Konrad Buhagiar explained to the board what happened after the August board meeting when UNESCO, through its body ICOMOS, had obtained a court injunction blocking the proceedings until it was fully consulted.

An ICOMOS representative came to Malta in October and several suggestions were made which to the untutored eye look like mere details. ICOMOS concluded there were no other alternative sites and that the resulting massing, while altering the Valletta cityscape, could not be averted.

Two lawyers, Martin Fenech and Jonathan Abela Fiorini, spoke on behalf of people who rent shops next to the museum in Merchants Street. Although they rent their shops from the Lands Department and have no legal connection to the Foundation, they have been there for nearly 100 years and still do not know if they will be affected.

Mepa chairman Vince Cassar remarked that the Lands Department belongs to government which is also represented on the Foundation.

Astrid Vella, who had valiantly opposed the subterranean plan for the chamber and led to its withdrawal, said she was still unconvinced by the rationale presented by the foundation. She was sure an alternative site could be found within the church. Nor was she convinced by the argument that the museum would cut down on the stress of so many people visiting the church. She argued that the law regarding Grade One scheduled buildings does not allow so drastic changes unless in exceptional circumstances.

Other churches do exhibit their hangings, such as Strasbourg Cathedral, but inside the church where they always used to hang. The Mdina Cathedral created a museum across the road and there are many huge and unused buildings in Valletta that could house the Cathedral's collections.  The Victoria and Albert Museum, asked for their advice, said that there is no real need to exhibit all the tapestries to the general public but only to experts.

When Zampa the jewelers dug underneath the shop to create a safe, the work caused damage to the cathedral floor which could not be remedied.

Ray Bondin, a member of the foundation, said that today the museum is closed to the public from Saturday at noon to all day Sunday. Tourists maybe in Valletta for just a few hours thus miss the Caravaggio. There is simply no other site available.

Astrid Vella could not be shut up. She kept interrupting and demanding to speak, but in the end many ended up hissing that she should shut up.

Board member Elizabeth Ellul was worried by the massing of the new building especially on St Lucy Street. She was also worried because the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage had allowed the excavation of the courtyard by 1.8 metres when they normally object even to a 0.5m excavation.

She asked if the monument in the middle is to be shifted and was answered in the positive. Konrad Buhagiar replied the monument in the middle does not contain, as many believe, the bones of the soldiers who fought in the Great Siege. a fact that was contested. It was built in post-war years. Ms Ellul continued to express worry about the massive 47m hall on top of Merchants Street.

Asked about the construction, Mr Buhagiar said a crane would be housed in Merchants Street.

Board member Alex Vella also expressed reservations about the project.

Mepa CEO Johann Buttigieg reminded the board it had withheld deciding on the application last August to see what ICOMOS would say. Now ICOMOS has approved the project and justified the massing. The discussion could not be brought back to discuss everything from the beginning all over again.

Ryan Callus, MP, strongly suggested that the government should be asked to help the shopkeepers who will be affected, as has happened in other national projects.

At the end, the board approved the application with only Ms Ellul and Mr Vella voting against.