Statue of Maria ascending into heaven by sculptor Marco Montebello in Mosta, Malta
The Church of the Assumption of Our Lady, commonly known as the Rotunda of Mosta or Rotunda of St Marija Assunta (sometimes shortened to as The Mosta Dome) is a Roman Catholic church in Mosta, Malta. It is the third largest unsupported dome in the world and the third largest in Europe. Built in the 19th century on the site of a previous church, it was designed by the Maltese architect Giorgio Grognet de Vassé. Its dome is among the largest in the world, with an internal diameter of meters (122 ft); the rotunda walls are meters (30 ft) thick (necessary to support the weight of the dome). The rotunda dome is the third-largest church dome in Europe and the ninth largest in the world. Grongnet's plans were based on the Pantheon in Rome. Construction began in May 1833 and was completed in the 1860s. The original church was left in place while the Rotunda was built around it, allowing the local people to have a place of worship while the new church was being built. The church was officially consecrated on the 15 of October 1871.
Size: 3840px × 5760px
Location: Assumption of the Virgin Mary, Pjazza Rotunda, Mosta, Malta, Southern Europe, European Union
Photo credit: © DE ROCKER / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: arms, art, artwork, ascending, assumption, aureole, blue, bronze, catholic, christ, christian, circle, gild, gilded, gold, golden, hair, heaven, jesus, lady, long, madonna, malta, maltese, marco, maria, marie, mary, metal, montebello, mosta, mother, open, religion, religious, ring, roman, rotunda, saint, sculpture, sky, stars, statue, sunny, virgin, woman
