Gozo walking 5: Ta’Pinu and the Citadella

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14th April 2026

After my tumble the day before my ankle was swollen and stiff, so rather than walking a circular route to the Basilica of Ta’Pinu as intended we took the bus instead. Ta’Pinu is a must-see, a huge lone church which serves as Malta’s National Shrine to the Virgin Mary and towers over the countryside. It was built in the 1920s on the site of an older chapel where a local woman, Carmela Grima, claimed to have heard the Virgin speak to her. Several miracles followed and it was decided to build a grand new church, no doubt at enormous expense (you know my scepticism about this). Nevertheless, it’s a hugely impressive site.

The surroundings of the church are beautiful with tiled paving and four curved walls of mosaics telling the story of Christ’s life.

There is also a statue of Carmela, and inside you can see her grave.

The rest of the interior is as stunning as you might expect.

But that’s not all – despite my ankle I was keen to climb the small hill opposite, Ta’Ghammar, which has Stations of the Cross and good views back down to the Basilica.

Station 4
Ta’Pinu from Ta’Ghammar
Station 9
Station 11
Station 13
Station 14

After that it was time to take the bus back to Victoria where we had a very good lunch in one of the cafes on the main square. We then headed off to explore the 15th century Citadella. Just inside is the Cathedral of the Assumption, built between 1697 and 1711.

John enjoying lunch
Cathedral of the Assumption

It made Ta’Pinu look relatively restrained! Interestingly, money ran out before a dome could be added so what you see today is a trompe l’oeil created by Antonio Emanuele in 1739 and restored in 2019 – Malta’s most spectacular perspective painting according to the guide leaflet.

Altar and “dome”
Trompe l’oeil dome
Decorated ceiling
Assumption of the Virgin Mary

The ceilings were the most beautiful part of the cathedral for me, but I was also interested in the statue of Mary, above, which is taken shoulder-high in a procession every 15th August. The statue itself dates from 1897 but the solid silver plinth was added in 1962. How much must that have cost?! The gruesome Holy Relics Chapel was also intriguing: below is the body of St Lucida, unearthed from San Saturnino cemetery in Rome, complete with windows in her clothing through which you can see her bones.

After the cathedral we walked, gingerly in my case, round the Citadella walls with great views of some of the places we had visited earlier in the week such as Tas-Salvatur Hill from day one and Xewkija Rotunda from the previous day. We could aslo see the Basilica of St George, our next port of call, which we walked to through its eponymous square.

Tas-Salvatur Hill
Xewkija Rotunda
Basilica of St George
Pjazza san Gorg

If we thought the cathedral was ornate, St George’s was yet another level up! Built between 1672 and 1678 it is known as “the golden church” of Gozo – it is entirely covered with marble and gold stucco. Notable sights include a statue of St George himself and another saint with his bones on view, I think St Clement.

St George
St Clement

Exiting back onto the square we found a very nice roof terrace on which to have a coffee to round off our afternoon.

Although thanks to my ankle injury this had not been a “walk” as such I still managed to do over 15000 steps! The next day was our last in Gozo, and also John’s birthday.

Gozo, Malta , , ,

49 Comments »

  1. Pingback: This week’s small pleasures 505 – Thistles and Kiwis

  5. I’m not religious in the slightest but religious buildings are impressive ( no expense spared usually, even in dirt poor countries) and I like the curved church mosaic walls. Simple yet stylish design. Bob. BSS.

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  6. Gorgeous banner shot of Basilica of Ta’Pinu, rising up from the grass. I’m not a religious person, but I sometimes think the Quakers had it right in terms of simplicity.

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  8. Even though I would rather see the money go to the church community than ornate churches, I still admire the artistry that has gone into creating these masterpieces. Amazing. Thank goodness I am not a saint, as I don’t like the idea of having my bones on display. I also love a good piazza, and Pjazza San Gorg looks fabulous.

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  11. Insane that each church was more elaborate. And for such a relatively small place. I do like those mosaic tiles around the church telling the story of Jesus. I’ve never seen anything quite like that. Bernie

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  12. I am very surprised at how ornate and ‘rich’ many of these churches are! You are a real trouper visiting all these places with your swollen ankle. I’m pleased you did though as your lovely photos capture an unexpected view of churches in Gozo/

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  14. I have enjoyed seeing these lovely, interesting photographs yet empathise with you about the discomfort of seeing so much opulence in some churches and cathedrals. My husband loves going into them, but I tend to peek in and then enjoy outside views while I wait for him to finish 🙂

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    • Thanks Anne. I do like looking round old churches and can appreciate some of it as art, but I prefer the simpler ones. What struck me here was how recent some of the opulence was. I thought by the 20th century people might have seen there were better ways to serve their God than to sink money into elaborate churches.

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  16. You certainly packed a lot into this day despite the ankle injury! And these churches get progressively more ornate and more impressive. The trompe l’oeil dome in the cathedral is very effective but the gold in St George’s probably trumps the lot!

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  18. Gozo is so small it’s astounding that they have so many churches. We went to Gozo 30 years ago but just for a night with small kids so not much sightseeing. We should go back for another visit. Sorry about your ankle, I’m always so careful when I travel as I have very weak ankles.
    I love ceilings too, so much detail.
    Very gruesome figure!

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  20. Wow!! There’s no other word for it. I’ve seen many church ceilings but none as good as these. I think I prefer the outside of Ta’Pinu though, those mosaic walls are beautiful. The Cathedral ceiling is fabulous as is St. George’s, and the Stations of the Cross look lovely surrounded by flowers.

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