The Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven ( mt, Katidral ta' Santa Marija Assunta) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

in the

Cittadella Cittadella ( vec, Sitadeła) is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is in circumference with a diameter of around ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Gozo Gozo (, ), Maltese: ''Għawdex'' () and in antiquity known as Gaulos ( xpu, 𐤂𐤅𐤋, ; grc, Γαῦλος, Gaúlos), is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. The cathedral is dedicated to the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution '' Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by ...

, and it has been the seat of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Gozo The Diocese of Gozo ( la, Dioecesis Goulos-Gaudisiensis) is a Latin bishopric (diocese) of the Catholic Church in Malta, and the only suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Malta, together covering the insular ...

since the formation of the diocese in 1864.

History

The Cittadella was initially a pre-historic settlement and later a Roman temple dedicated to Juno was developed, and the remains of this temple existed until the present day as part of the cathedral. Following the

Christianization Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...

of Malta and Gozo, the temple was converted into a church dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

. Later on, Byzantine church was probably built on the site of the temple, until it was destroyed while Malta was under Arab rule. Cathedral of the Assumption, Gozo

Following the expulsion of the Arabs, another church was built. The earliest reference of a parish church within the Cittadella dates back to 1299, and it was enlarged over the course of the 15th and 16th centuries. The church was sacked by the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

during the invasion of 1551, but was reopened by September 1554. It was damaged once again in the earthquake of 1693, and the decision was taken to demolish the old building and construct a new church instead. The nobleman Felice Axac was a major benefactor in the church's reconstruction. The foundation stone of the present church was laid down on 21 September 1697, and the building was designed by the Maltese architect

Lorenzo Gafà Lorenzo Gafà (1639–1703) was a Maltese Baroque architect and sculptor. He designed many churches in the Maltese Islands, including St. Paul's Cathedral in Mdina and the Cathedral of the Assumption in Victoria, Gozo. He was the younger broth ...

. It was inaugurated on 14 August 1711, and was dedicated on 11 October 1716. The church was elevated to a cathedral when it became the seat of the

, which was established on 16 September 1864. The building is listed on the

National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands The National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands (NICPMI) is a heritage register listing the cultural property of Malta. The inventory includes properties such as archaeological sites, fortifications, religious buildings, mo ...

Architecture

The cathedral is built in

Baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the early 17th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means ...

, and its

groundplan Cladistics (; ) is an approach to biological classification in which organisms are categorized in groups (" clades") based on hypotheses of most recent common ancestry. The evidence for hypothesized relationships is typically shared derived char ...

has the shape of a

Latin cross A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...

. The building's façade is similar to that of the

Church of the Gesù , image = Church of the Gesù, Rome.jpg , imagesize = , caption = Giacomo della Porta's façade, precursor of Baroque , mapframe = yes , mapframe-caption = Click on the map for a full ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. The cathedral has a

bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tow ...

on its north-east side. The interior of the cathedral is well-proportioned, containing pilasters raised on tall platforms. The building has an aperture for a

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

, but this is roofed over with a flat ceiling containing a ''

trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...

'' painting.

Cathedral Museum

The Cathedral Museum is housed in a building with a plain façade located behind the church.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Baroque church buildings in Malta Collegiate churches in Malta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands Roman Catholic cathedrals in Malta Roman Catholic churches completed in 1711 Victoria, Gozo 18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Malta