The dome of St Mary's Church in Mosta fully deserves its reputation! Built between 1833 and 1860 on the model of the Pantheon in Rome, the church's main claim to fame is its rotunda, diameter 37.2m. The inhabitants financed and took part in the building themselves, which has become a landmark of the island. This luminous edifice was miraculously spared during World War II, when a bomb dropped on the church, but failed to explode.