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Cathedral of the Assumption

Cathedral of the Assumption

Lorenzo Gafà

Photo: Laredawg · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Victoria, Gozo, Malta
Client / Owner
Felice Axac
Year
Completed 1711
Access
Tickets required
Typology
Spiritual
Style
Baroque

The Cathedral of the Assumption stands in the Cittadella of Victoria on Gozo. It has been the seat of the Diocese of Gozo since the diocese was formed in 1864. The site was a prehistoric settlement and then a Roman temple to Juno, and a Marian church and later a Byzantine church followed. The Arabs destroyed the last one. A parish church in the Cittadella is mentioned in 1299, and the Ottomans sacked it in 1551.

An earthquake damaged the church in 1693, and it was decided to rebuild it. The Maltese architect Lorenzo Gafà designed the new Baroque cathedral on a Latin cross plan, and the foundation stone was laid on September 21, 1697. The nobleman Felice Axac was a major contributor. It was inaugurated on August 14, 1711.

The facade is similar to that of the Church of the Gesù in Rome. A flat ceiling with a trompe-l'œil painting covers the dome.

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