Tombstones & Monuments

Within the Chapels there are several monuments commemorating important Grand Masters. The only funerary monument outside the chapels is that of Marc’ Antonio Zondadari which was installed in the Main Nave and not in the Chapel of Italy by Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi. In the Italian Chapel, one finds the monument of the Italian Grand Master Fra Gregorio Carafa.

The Chapel of France, there are three monuments of the French Grand Masters: Adrien de Wignacourt and Alof de Wignacourt and an impressive mausoleum dedicated to Emmanuel de Rohan. Within this chapel, there is a Neoclassical monument of the Vicomte de Beaujolais, the brother of King Louis Philippe of France by Jacques Pradier.

The last chapel is dedicated to the Anglo-Bavarian Chapel. Two monuments are dedicated to the Grand Masters from Provence – Jean Lascaris and Antoine de Paule. In this chapel there is a staircase that leads to the Grand Masters’ Crypt, the resting place of the first twelve Grand Masters of the Order, including Grand Master Jean Parisot de la Valette, the Grand Master who laid the foundation stone of Valletta.

In the Chapel of Auvergne, one monument is dedicated to Grand Master Fra Annet de Clermont-Gessant, whose rule was short-lived.

In the Chapel of Aragon, one finds four beautiful monuments commemorating the Spanish Grand Masters: Raphael and his brother Nicholas Cotoner, the latter by Domenico Guidi, Martin de Redin and a magnificent monument by Giuseppe Mazzuoli to Grand Master Perellos.

The last chapel on the right-hand side belongs to the langue of Castile, Leon and Portugal. Here there are two fine monuments dedicated to two Portuguese Grand Masters – Manoel Pinto and Manoel de Vilhena, the latter by Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi.