Editing Mosta (section)

=== Sanctuary Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady (also known as the Rotunda of Mosta or the Mosta Dome) ===
{{Main|Rotunda of Mosta}}
Mosta boasts [[List of the world's largest domes|the third largest unsupported dome in the world]]. The church, also commonly known as the Rotunda of Mosta or the Mosta Dome, is dedicated to the [[assumption of Mary|Assumption]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Borg|first=Victor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o1QO1Tk-FsMC&q=mosta+dome&pg=PA151|title=Rough Guide to Malta and Gozo|publisher=[[Rough Guides]]|year=2002|isbn=9781858286808|pages=151–2}}</ref> The Feast of the Assumption is held on 15 August and it is a public holiday in Malta.

From its inception as a parish in 1608, Mosta has had three different churches built on the same site,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zammit|first=Gabrielle|title=Report on the State of Conservation of Ta Bistra Catacombs|url=https://www.academia.edu/402767|language=en}}</ref> with the current one being designed by [[Giorgio Grognet de Vassé]], a French resident of Mosta. The ''Mostin'' at that time, totalling not more than 1500, built the church.<ref>{{cite news|date=11 March 2012|title=200-year-old History in an old musty archive|work=[[The Malta Independent]]|url=http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2012-03-11/news/200-year-old-history-in-an-old-musty-archive-307055/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304202125/http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2012-03-11/news/200-year-old-history-in-an-old-musty-archive-307055/|archive-date=4 March 2016}}</ref>

Grognet’s design was based on that of the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon of Rome]]. Due to debates and doubts regarding the design, the first stone was laid on 30 May 1833. The rotunda has a diameter of 55.20 metres on the outside and 39.60 metres on the inside. The main façade faces south and has six columns in the Ionic style. On each side, a steeple rises from the façade. Following the front elevation, the church has an analogous style at the back, but without steeples. The dome was built on the principle of the catenary profile, meaning that each stone was laid over the one underneath it.

The church took 27 years to complete and became a major attraction.<ref>{{cite book|last1=MacGill|first1=Thomas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bJ8NAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA124|title=A hand book, or guide, for strangers visiting Malta|date=1839|publisher=Luigi Tonna|location=[[Malta]]|pages=124–126}}</ref> On 9 April 1942, the church was nearly destroyed during [[World War II]]. An [[Axis powers|Axis]] bomb hit the dome of the church whilst people were inside, but it failed to explode. The detonator was removed and a replica bomb is now displayed as a memorial.<ref>{{cite book|last=Castillo|first=Dennis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i5ns5LNtoiUC&q=mosta+dome&pg=PA184|title=The Maltese Cross: a strategic history of Malta|publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group]]|year=2006|isbn=9780313323294|page=184}}</ref>

[[File:Mosta Dome 2009-3.JPG|thumb|Mosta Dome]]