Birkirkara - Parish Church of St Helen's

This big, flashy and lively church was begun in 1727 and completed in 1745 towards the end of the Maltese Baroque period. Design details make this Sicilian-influenced facade one of the island's finest, with pilasters and angels gesticulating wildly around the intricate bell-towers; there is a rhythm to the three ground-floor-door-and window-pediments that even the strangely out-of-sync center window can't disturb.

Inside it is conventional Latin-plan, a little heavy but lightened by rich frescoes, and in direct contrast to the bubbly facade.