This church holds a quiet architectural distinction: it was the first church built in Malta on an elliptical plan, possibly the only one. After the earthquake in the late seventeenth century destroyed the Cathedral, this church stepped in. It served as Mdina's temporary cathedral and parish church for nearly a decade. But this church's most important moment had nothing to do with architecture. Remember Napoleon sleeping at the Banca Giuratale? That was early summer. By September of the same year, French soldiers were stripping Maltese churches of their treasures to sell at auction. When they arrived at this church and began removing the damask hangings, the people of Mdina had had enough. A crowd gathered. Villagers from nearby towns flooded into Rabat. The situation exploded. The French garrison commander confronted the mob with his sword drawn. He was seized and hurled from a balcony. And then a boy climbed this bell tower and rang the bells. Not for Mass. But for war. Those bells summoned all of Malta to arms. The French slammed Mdina's gates shut and bombarded Rabat. But by dawn the next morning, rebels had breached the walls and the sixty-five-man French garrison was overrun. The fighting was savage. Men died storming the gates, were shot in the square, and fell on the bastions trying to tear down the French flag. The uprising was led by Emmanuele Vitale, a notary from Rabat and former Chancellor of the Università, who had pre-emptively hidden Church treasures in his own house before the French could seize them. He was elected commander-in-chief of roughly ten thousand Maltese irregulars. A cotton merchant named Vincenzo Borg, commanded forces elsewhere on the island. Within two days, the French had retreated behind Valletta's walls, and the Banca Giuratale, where Napoleon had slept just weeks earlier, became the seat of the rebel National Assembly. But the Maltese knew they couldn't break Valletta's massive fortifications on their own. They needed naval power. So they sent word to the British, who had a fleet nearby pursuing Napoleon's forces across the Mediterranean. A British naval captain named Alexander Ball arrived within weeks and set up a blockade, choking off French supplies by sea while the Maltese held them on land. The French garrison inside Valletta slowly starved and finally they surrendered. Malta was free from France, but the price of British help was British rule. The Università, that ancient Maltese governing body we've been tracking all tour, the same institution whose headquarters we visited at the Banca Giuratale, was quietly abolished by the new British governor. The body that had defended Maltese interests against the Knights for centuries didn't survive its own liberators. Today, the Carmelite Priory behind the church is one of the few functioning priories in Malta that offers tours. A resident friar will walk you through the Baroque refectory, still used for communal meals, an eighteenth-century kitchen, and a friar's cell with austere furnishings. Visits require pre-booking and there's a small fee. You can also enter and while usually free, donations are welcome. Once you finish taking in the priory, our next stop takes us to one of the most intriguing private homes in Mdina.