July 30 - Valletta

 July 30 - Valletta

On an earlier recommendation we visited Mosta this morning to see ‘The Sanctuary Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption’, otherwise known as the ‘Mosta Rotunda’!  The view we had of it from the walls of Mdina made it clear why that’s its preferred description, it’s a ‘domed’ church.  The dome, which is unsupported and originally planned to be a copy of the Pantheon in Rome, is believed to be the third largest in the world.  There is no actual consensus on this claim though as ‘people’ can't seem to agree if it’s the height or the width of the dome that matters. 

Apart from its size and shape the church is also renowned for what happened to it during WWII.  In 1942 the German Luftwaffe was doing its part to earn Malta the title of 'most bombed place on earth' when about 300 people were inside the church for Mass.  Whether deliberate or by misfortune, three bombs hit the rotunda, one of which penetrated the dome but failed to detonate.  Luckily, or by miracle as is claimed, there was no loss of life. 


A bit of a change this afternoon as we decided to spend a couple of hours swimming.  On a suggestion from our hotel receptionist on where to go we got the bus to Balluta Bay, just the other side of Sliema.  It was a bit of a rude shock though when getting out of Valletta as there’s practically nothing along the coastline except for ‘package tour’ hotels!   Although not really our cup of tea once we got to Balluta Bay the water was nice and it was an enjoyable swim. 


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