Mosta is roughly in the geographical center of the Island of Malta and, in times gone by, it was considered to be far enough inland to be relatively safe from corsair attacks. The chief attraction is now the monumental church whose design was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. Its dome is the fourth largest in Europe: the three other domes being in Rome, London, and Xewkija in Gozo. The building was started in 1833 and the church was consecrated in 1871; it was built around and over an older church which continued to be used during the time work was is progress. In the machine age in which we are living this sounds like an exceedingly long time, but one should bear in mind that the labour on this church was done on a voluntary basis, in the little spare time the people had at their disposal.

This church, like many other of the older churches in Malta, could be said to be a monument of faith. In 1942 a thousand pound bomb penetrated the dome but failed to explode.