This is a full view of the High Altar of the Basilica. You can see the angel I posted yesterday on the right hand side of the canopy. In the back is the statue of Our Lady of Victories. It is made of wood and plated in silver and is the most valuable work of art of the church. Had I known that it is over 400 years old, I would have given it a better look. I came to know this later from a plaque I saw at the Senglea Waterfront .
The church itself was built around 1580 to commemorate the successful end of the Great Siege of 1565. The church was destroyed (like many other buildings in the area) during air-raids in WWII but was rebuilt in 1956. The statue of the Madonna survived because it had been taken to another location in view of the danger the city faced because of its vicinity to the naval shipyard. Pope Pius VI declared the church a “collegiate insignis” in 1786, while in 1921 it was given the title of Basilica by Pope Benedict XV.
Thank you very much for looking and for your lovely comments on yesterday’s picture.
The age of buildings like this is so amazing to me as an Australian. Buildings here are so "new" by comparison and the Passage of Time... a concept that really intrigues me.
Just gorgeous! I guess this calls for another visit to get a close up of the Our Lady of Victories! Cool to see the angel, from yesterday, in a different perspective.
(The ball`s are the artist idea.)