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Old Church of St Domenica, Dingli

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Old Church of Saint Domenica
Knisja Medjevali ta' Santa Duminka
Old Church of Saint Domenica
Old Church of Saint Domenica
35°51′36.5″N 14°23′2.2″E / 35.860139°N 14.383944°E
Location Dingli, Malta
Denomination Roman Catholic
History
Status Parish church
Founded c. 15th century
Dedication Saint Domenica
Architecture
Functional status Ruins
Specifications
Materials Limestone
Administration
Diocese Malta
Parish Ħal Tartarni

Old Church of St Domenica, Dingli — The Old Church of St Domenica (Maltese: Knisja Medjevali ta' Santa Duminka) is a ruined Roman Catholic parish church in Dingli, Malta, which was dedicated to Saint Domenica.

History

The church is believed to date back to the 15th century.[1] At the time it formed part of the village of Ħal Tartarni, which was also called Villaggio di S. Domenica after the church.[2] The building became the village's parish church sometime before 1436.[3]

Ħal Tartarni ceased to be a parish in 1539, when it was absorbed into the parish of St Paul of Rabat. The settlement later merged with the village of Dingli, which was established as an independent parish in the 17th century.[2]

In November 2012 a proposal was made to schedule the remains of the church, but no action was taken until eight years later,[4] after a new road was proposed to be constructed directly adjacent to the site in October 2020. This raised concerns among residents and NGOs that the church's fragile structure could collapse in the process and that its context would be lost.[1] The church was finally scheduled as a Grade 1 monument by the Planning Authority on 14 October.[5]

References

  1. Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 Arena, Jessica (5 October 2020). "Medieval church threatened by planned Dingli road". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 6 October 2020.
  2. Back to citation occurrence 2.0 Back to citation occurrence 2.1 Guillaumier, Alfie (1987). Bliet u Rħula Maltin (in Maltese). Valletta: Valletta Publishing & Promotion Co Ltd. pp. 156–157.
  3. Back to citation "About The Locality". localgovernment.gov.mt. Archived from the original on 15 January 2018.
  4. Back to citation Debono, James (20 October 2020). "Protection of Dingli chapel shelved for eight years". Malta Today. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020.
  5. Back to citation "Chapel threatened by road works among six properties given top protection". Times of Malta. 14 October 2020. Archived from the original on 14 October 2020.