of a contract, for the exchange of the island with the Casa della Giornata (now the site of the Royal Opera House) in Valletta that belonged to Michel de Torellas, the Prior of Catalonia. In 1844 a prominent statue of Saint Paul was erected on the island. It was sculpted by Segismondo Dimech from Valletta and Salvatore Dimech from Lija. The statue was officially inaugurated and blessed on 21 September 1845. It was restored by Din l-Art Ħelwa a number of times, first in 1996, then in 2007, in 2014, and 2015. Until the 1930s, a farmer called Vincenzo Borg, nicknamed Ta' Bajdafin, lived on the island in the tower built by Grandmaster Lascaris. He converted and used it as a farmhouse. Borg abandoned the dwelling, and the fields on the island, just before World War II started. The tower was a three-chambered structure with a heavily buttressed wall at its lower level. It was built similar to other Lascaris towers. Since it was abandoned, the upper room has collapsed and the structure is now in ruins. Pope John Paul II visited the island by boat during his visit to Malta in 1990. In the same year, a statue named Kristu tal-Baħħara was sunk near St. Paul’s Island. After 10 years, the statue was moved from St. Paul's Bay to Qawra point because of deteriorating visibility in the water and a decline in divers visiting the site. Geography Saint Paul's Islands lie about 100 metres off the coast of Mellieħa, Malta. The island can split into two islands by a shallow isthmus according to the sea level, and when they are split the larger island on the west is known as Saint Paul's Island while the smaller one on the east is known as Quartz Island. Both islands are made of upper coralline limestone. Saint Paul's Island's landscape is a maritime garigue dominated by golden samphire, Maltese fleabane and other species. Quartz Island is more exposed and has less vegetation than the main island. A population of the land snail Trochoidea spratti can be found on the islands. Wild rabbits used to live on the island but the population died off due to disease. A subspecies of the Maltese wall lizard known as Podarcis filfolensis kieselbachi also lived there but the population apparently became extinct in 2005. References Sciberras, A. & Schembri,P.J. (2008) Conservation Status of St Paul's Island Wall