The Church of St Nicholas is a Greek Catholic church in Valletta. It was originally built to serve as a Greek Orthodox church in 1569. Following the Union of Brest in 1595-96 the Greek Catholic Church came into existence. It was in 1639 that the then parish priest decided to separate from the Orthodox church and join the Greek Catholic Church.
Some time later it was decided to rebuild the church to the design of the Italian architect Francesco Buonamici. The church was rebuilt on the ground plan of a Greek cross in 1652. It has a dome over the crossing supported by four free-standing columns, and a choir in the apse. On September 17, 1766, the parish church and the Confraternity of the Holy Souls signed a concordat that regulates their relations.
The church suffered considerable damage during World War II; it was repaired by the year 1951.
References:Visby Cathedral (also known as St. Mary’s Church) is the only survived medieval church in Visby. It was originally built for German merchants and inaugurated in 1225. Around the year 1350 the church was enlarged and converted into a basilica. The two-storey magazine was also added then above the nave as a warehouse for merchants.
Following the Reformation, the church was transformed into a parish church for the town of Visby. All other churches were abandoned. Shortly after the Reformation, in 1572, Gotland was made into its own Diocese, and the church designated its cathedral.
There is not much left of the original interior. The font is made of local red marble in the 13th century. The pulpit was made in Lübeck in 1684. There are 400 graves under the church floor.