Just like the majority of the churches and art works of Messina, the church of St. John of Malta also suffered damages and transformations because of the earthquakes. What we can now admire is only part of the ancient building. 

The church was founded in 535 A. D. by the Benedictine monk Placido, as a result of St. Benedict of Norcia’s will. He gave Placido the job of founding the first Benedictine monastery in Sicily. In 541 A. D., the building was destroyed by the invasion of a Saracen army, and they killed Placido and his brothers who were martyred. In 1136, the church and the surrounding territory were given to the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem and Malta by King Roger II. The construction of the church was commissioned to Jacopo del Duca, one of the pupils of Michelangelo. The church, with one nave and two side aisles, had 19 altars destroyed during the earthquakes of 1783 and 1908. Nowadays, it is possible to admire only two of them. 

The Baroque façade was readapted by the architect Bazzani in 1913, during the construction of the Government building. 

In the interior, it is possible to admire some frescos dedicated to the martyrdom of St. Placido, and a small museum where paraments and silverware are guarded. Inside the church, there are clothes of St. Placido and the funeral monument of Francesco Maurolico.