The Knights of Malta (to give them their full name, the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta) are certainly familiar to followers of this site. I was completely unaware there are other similar orders of Knights also active in Malta.

The Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem was created in 1910 in Paris. They had existed earlier but the last Knight had died out in 1857. The order languished until it was re-formed in 1910 under the protection of the Greek bishop of the Greek Catholic Church¹. This is part of the Catholic Church and traces its traditions back to St Peter’s influence in what is present-day Syria². The order still continues with its charity work in various areas around the world³.

Three groupings of Knights called “obediences” make up this order:

• The Orleans obedience is the result of a schism from the previous “Paris obedience” grouping⁴. I’m not quite sure why there is a separate grouping; there isn’t much information available online.
• The Jerusalem obedience is the result of a similar schism. Clearly, the Knights of St Lazarus don’t get along with each other⁴.
• The Malta-Paris obedience which came about in 2008⁴.

I was only interested in what seems like this esoteric order because I was on my way to see their Maltese headquarters. This is a fortified farmhouse right in the middle of a well-built up area in the centre of the island of Malta. The town of San Gwann (“St John”) is perhaps an odd choice of headquarters. Built in the 15th century, the owners later fortified it to protect against pirate attacks. The Grand Master of the Knights of Malta used it as a hunting lodge – in those days, this was a rural area. Later, the British requisitioned it to serve as an observation post during World War 2. It was restored after the war and given to the Knights of St Lazarus in 1973⁵.

The place, Castello Lanzun, is unremarkable when seen from the road. In fact the only sign that it is a little more than a normal dwelling is the green Maltese cross on the gate. The Knights of Malta use a white-on-black cross which they took from the Republic of Amalfi. It’s only Maltese in the sense that it’s associated with the Knights of Malta. There are other knightly associations using this symbol and the colour scheme identifies which is which. A green cross represents the Knights of St Lazarus.

I think it is fascinating something as momentous as an order of Knights exists in this day and age – hiding in plain sight.

Do you have any Knights as neighbours? Leave a comment below and tell us about them!

1. History of the Order; orderOfSaintLazarus.com; (Retrieved 2018-11-03) [↩]
2. The Melkites; Eparchy of Newton; 2010-08-14[↩]
3. Organisation; orderofSaintLazarus.com; (Retrieved 2018-11-03) [↩]
4. History of the order; St Lazarus.cz; (Retrieved 2019-07-02) [↩][↩][↩]
5. Castello Lanzun – Headquarter of the Order; St-Lazarus.net; 2018-11-03[↩]