Standing in front of the altar you may admire the bronze canopy, cast in Italy in 1967, that evokes the famous baldacchino of Bernini, the great Renaissance artist, who not only contributed to the construction of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican and its decoration in bronze but also created that splendid colonnade that embraces the millions that flock to Rome every year. Incidentally, one of the statues that top this colonnade depicts St George, the Patron Saint of Gozo, England and so many other nations and localities. The white Carrara marble altar is the work of Roman sculptor Carlo Pisi, in 1960, who has other works in St George’s, including the Stations of the Cross.

Right above the altar and canopy rises the dome, which is however not the original one built in 1678. The old one suffered repeated damage by a series of earthquakes that hit the island of Gozo in the eighteenth century and it had to be torn down. It was rebuilt on the original but simplified design in 1940 and since then it once again dominated the skyline of the historic centre of Rabat. The set of eight paintings in the dome’s interior are by Gian Battista Conti and show themes from the Book of Revelation, the last in the Sacred Scriptures, which speaks of the faithful one who gives witness to the Lamb (Christ). St George gave witness of his faith in Christ by shedding his blood; in fact the Greek word martyr means “giving witness”. Conti also designed the set of stained-glass windows adorning the dome, which carry the theme of Our Lord’s Prayer.