Mosta Rotunda, the dome that survived a bomb

Mosta Rotunda is one of those churches that makes more sense from inside than in photographs. From outside it’s a columned portico and a colossal dome over a town in the middle of Malta. From inside, when you look up, you realise nothing is holding it up except the ring of walls. Then there’s the story of the bomb, which is what made it famous well beyond the island.

A church built around another

Its official name is the Basilica of St Mary, the Assumption, and it’s the parish church of Mosta. The foundation stone was laid in 1833 and the work took 23 years for a curious reason. The new church was raised round the old one, from the early 17th century, which had grown too small for a swelling parish. Only once the new shell was complete could the old church inside be taken down.

The interior is decorated with paintings by Giuseppe Calì and other artists. In the sacristies you’ll find valuable pieces, paintings and a large-scale model of the church.

The measurements, without the league tables

This is where it pays to be careful, because all sorts of rankings circulate for this dome. The parish’s home page calls it one of the largest unsupported domes in the world and gives three figures, 56.2 metres across outside, 39.6 metres across inside and 54.7 metres high inside. Another of its own pages gives a 37-metre diameter. I’ll stick with the measurements rather than the placings, which shift depending on who’s counting. If you want to compare, the Xewkija Rotunda on Gozo publishes its own figures.

9 April 1942

Malta lived through a long second siege, this time from the air, between 1940 and 1943, in the Second World War, and Mosta has its own chapter. The parish records that on Thursday 9 April 1942, after midday, fifty enemy bombers attacked the islands, and at 16:40 a bomb pierced the dome and landed on the church floor. It didn’t explode. The parish stresses that no one was killed and the church stayed standing. A replica of the bomb is displayed in the sacristy, and it’s the piece everyone goes looking for.

Beneath the church is the air-raid shelter local people used, now with two exhibitions, one of photographs of wartime Malta and one of tools from traditional trades.

Which ticket to buy

There are two. The full visit, at €8, covers the basilica, the crypt, the church museum, the walk round the outside of the dome, the inner balcony, the shelter and an audio guide on a phone app, which also includes a seven-minute film about Mosta. The short visit, at €5, sticks to the basilica, the shelter and the audio guide. My advice is the full one, because the dome is the reason to come and only the balcony shows it off properly.

On Tuesdays the parish runs Magical Mosta, 10:30 to 15:30, which adds a guided walk through the town and a Maltese buffet for €25.

Opening times and tips for the visit

It opens Monday to Friday 09:30 to 18:00, Saturday 09:30 to 16:30 and Sunday 12:00 to 17:00, and admission stops thirty minutes before closing. The parish warns it may close on some days for religious services, so check ahead on a feast day.

A board at the entrance sets out the price and the dress code. I’d cover shoulders and knees just in case. The main entrance has a ramp and the church floor is accessible, but the shelter and the balcony are stairs only. Accessible toilets are in the Dome Visitors Centre, which has a lift and shows a film about how the church was built.

Getting there

From Valletta the 41, 42, 44, 45 and 48 all come to Mosta, and from the Qawra terminus the 31, 45, 48, 186 and 280. If you’re driving, there’s a small car park beside the church with spaces for blue badge holders. To carry on the day, I’ve ranked the other churches in Malta worth a stop in a separate guide.