The Old Church of St Domenica ( mt, Knisja Medjevali ta' Santa Duminka) is a ruined

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

Dingli Dingli ( mt, Ħad-Dingli) is a village in the Northern Region of Malta, with a population of 3,865 as of 2021. It is from the capital Valletta and two kilometers () from the nearest town, Rabat. The village lies on a plateau some 250 metre ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, which was dedicated to Saint Domenica.

History

The church is believed to date back to the 15th century. At the time it formed part of the village of Ħal Tartarni, which was also called ''Villaggio di S. Domenica'' after the church. The building became the village's

sometime before 1436. 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

, which was established as an independent parish in the 17th century. In November 2012 a proposal was made to schedule the remains of the church, but no action was taken until eight years later, 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. The church was finally scheduled as a Grade 1 monument by the

Planning Authority A local planning authority (LPA) is the local government body that is empowered by law to exercise urban planning functions for a particular area. They exist in the United Kingdom and India. United Kingdom Mineral planning authorities The role ...

on 14 October.

References

{{malta-stub 15th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Malta Church ruins in Malta Dingli Former Roman Catholic church buildings in Malta Limestone churches in Malta Medieval Maltese architecture