Anyone who has walked alongside the Church of St Sebastian in Rabat over the last three years will have noticed the heavy scaffolding marring the façade.

The scaffolding was erected to support the portico and columns of the church – the oldest church locally dedicated to St Sebastian, dating back to 1477 – which had sustained steady damage and deterioration over the years, so as to prevent collapse and danger to passers-by. And now, they’re finally set to be taken apart and rebuilt.

Architect Glorianne Camenzuli has said that the damage sustained by the portico is owing to a number of elements, from heavy road traffic on the street to possible damage to their foundations due to the installation of water canals to prevent flooding of the area in the 1960s.

The works on the church are to be carried out in conjunction with infrastructural works on Rabat’s Triq George Borg Olivier, and will include the removal, numbering, restoration and reassembly of the damaged portico.

The church itself, meanwhile, looks to have no structural damage to speak of, and mass is still celebrated within, for which people enter using a side door.