The intricate marble floor of St John’s Co-Cathedral has long been a source of devotion, inspiration and fascination. The bodies of the Knights of St John’s are said to lie beneath, undisturbed. But now, new research has uncovered that well, this may not completely be the case after all!

For the past two years, researcher Sebastian D’Amico and his team have been working on scanning the length and breadth of the Co-Cathedral's floors, using a ground-penetrating radar system. Over 11,000 photos were taken, and a 3D-reconstruction of the area was created. They found only three burial sites within the church, which means that many of the tombstones we see are empty, or at least partly so. 

As part of their research, digital models of these burial sites were created, and these models show that the tombstones were not laid out in a corresponding continuation, but were rearranged in the 1840s to form a symmetrical pattern. 

Still, this new research does nothing to diminish the vibrancy of these fantastic tombstones, which commemorate the most distinguished members of the Knights of St John. Latin inscriptions attest to their virtues, with proclamations of triumph, fame, victory and death, and their baroque imagery is destined to inspire awe for centuries to come.  

Have you visited St John's Co-Cathedral yet? Read more about the fantastic gem of baroque architecture here.