Rotunda of Mosta and the Miracle of Mosta

We are approaching Malta and the first houses come into view below us. I notice a large round building in the middle of a town. A church?
I decide to find out later at the hotel what kind of building it could be.

Rotunda of Mosta

It quickly becomes clear that this building can only be the Rotunda of Mosta. The Church of the Assumption is a Roman Catholic church in the centre of Mosta. At the beginning of the 17th century, a small church stood on the same spot. As the population steadily increased, the capacity was no longer sufficient and so it was decided to build a larger church in 1830.

A Maltese architect designed a building that strongly resembled the Pantheon in Rome and in 1833 the foundation stone was laid. Many residents of the town supported the construction both financially and with active assistance. During the construction of the new building, the old church remained standing and the rotunda of Mosta was simply built around it. This allowed services to continue normally for the next few years until the new round church building was completed in 1860. After the new building was consecrated, the townspeople dismantled the old parish church in the middle of the rotunda.

The Miracle of Mosta

During the Second World War, about 300 people were staying in the house of worship when a German aerial bomb hit through the dome on 9.4.1942. The bomb did not explode and remained on the floor. Miraculously, hardly anyone was really hurt.

The bomb could be defused. Today you can see the original in the War Museum in Valetta and a copy in the sacristy of the rotunda in Mosta.

Visit to the Rotunda of Mosta

After this information, I simply had to see this church. So I took the bus to Mosta and got off directly at the rotunda.

The round church building has a south-facing façade. Columns support a triangular gable and there are church towers with a square ground plan. The church bells also hang there.
The church building has a diameter of over 54 metres. The walls are over 8 metres thick, the only way they can support the gigantic weight of the huge dome. It is said to be the fourth largest cantilevered church dome in the world. In any case, the building is already very impressive from the outside. I have real problems getting a decent shot – many cars and little distance to the next houses make me look for a suitable location for a while.

Then I enter the church building and stand wide-eyed in the structure. The dome rises above me over 55 metres high. The inside diameter is just under 36 metres and everything is in gold, blue and white. It is beautiful and I am really impressed.

It’s hard to take my eyes off the interior dome and I discover ornamental marble slabs decorating the floor.
Paintings hang on the walls, but honestly, my gaze keeps wandering to the dome of Mosta’s rotunda.

Vistor informations

Address

Rotunda Square,
Mosta, Malta