While on vacation in Malta last week, we made a quick stop to the town of Mosta to visiting the stunning church there.
Sitting at the centre of the town, the church has this incredible central dome, which is actually the third largest unsupported dome in the world (the other two being St Paul's cathedral in London and the Pantheon in Rome).
The church was built in the 1800s and is based on the design of the Pantheon in Rome which is clear to see,
For a small fee, you can actually get up inside the dome itself. You go up via a stairs in one of the corner bell towers, which takes you out to the flat roof area at the front of the church.
From there you can get some nice views over the town of Mosta, which the church towers over.
From there you can then walk into the gallery around the base of the dome, which gives you a beautiful view up into the dome itself (it is round, I was just using a fisheye type setting on my phone for the pic above).
From that viewing galley you also get a great view of the church below.
The church is quite ornate and stunningly painted and decorated inside. The red drapes really add a nice dimension.
I think the red drapes were there for some kind of festival, because the same colours could be seen around the town as well - which was pretty interesting.
The dome really is quite stunning and is painted so beautifully. I'm so glad that we'd made the effort to go and see it.
Its still a very active church, and was being used while we were there, although there were also a number of other tourists as well. It wasnt mobbed, which was nice.
Again it was the dome that was the main attraction, and you can see in the shot above how the design features and colours are all replicated throughout the main circular church area - it really was stunning.
For reference, I dug out the pic above which is from the Pantheon in Rome, which I took when we were there in Oct 2022. You can certainly see the influence with the square patterns in the dome and the recessed arches around the side at the base of the church.
The church is also famous for surviving a bombing during world war two. The pic above shows a replica of a bomb that fell on the church and went through the roof and landed on the floor below- but didnt explode. This was during a church service and none of the congregation were harmed. A very lucky escape indeed !
The audio-guide on the tour bus we were on to get there went on to say that the airman who dropped the bomb actually visited the town of Mosta after the war to ask for forgiveness and express his thankfulness that it did not explode !
It was such a great church to visit. I do love seeing domed buildings and for me this is one of the better ones I've seen- and I Iove the fact that it is based on the design of the Pantheon (my fav building ever !).
Again, the pic above is of the Pantheon from our visit in 2022 and you can see the similarities with the design of the church.
The main difference being the two bell towers at the front.
Well I was very impressed to find such a stunning domed church in such a small town in Malta. I loved it and am so glad we went to see it. If you love architecture and you are ever in Malta, then its an absolute must-see !
