Giovanni Barbara

Giovanni Barbara (1642–1728) was a Maltese architect and military engineer. He was born in the town of Lija. He was Capomastro delle Opere della Religione, the principal architect of the Order of St. John, from 1681 until Francesco Zerafa became his assistant in 1714 and eventually succeeded him.

He designed a skew arch at Sa Maison in Floriana, which was a marvel of construction and became known as the arco Barbara. Several other buildings, such as the Church of St. James in Valletta, and Palazzo Vilhena and the Seminary in Mdina, are sometimes also attributed to Barbara. There is no proof about these claims and they were most likely designed by other architects.

Barbara died in 1728 and was buried in Lija.^[1]

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