The Parish Church of the Annunciation of Our Lord or simply Annunciation Church or in Maltese Il-Knisja tal-Lunzjata is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

located in the village of

Tarxien Tarxien ( ) is a town in the Port region of Malta, seat of the Port Regional Council. Its population stood at 8,583 in March 2014. The town is most notable for the Tarxien Temples, a megalithic temple complex which is among the oldest freestan ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

History

The parish of Tarxien was created on May 29, 1592 by Bishop Tomás Gargallo. Works on the parish church started during the start of the 17th century, the traditional date being May 5, 1610. The church was built on the site of 3 respective chapels. It was recorded that by 1621 the construction was still in progress and that in 1627 works on the architecture was completed. By 1636 the church had two spires. In 1740 the side chapels were built, three on each side of the church. During the 18th century the church underwent extensive changes in its structure and architecture especially in its facade. The church was consecrated on May 8, 1782.

Interior

There are a total of 11 side altars in their respective chapels and one high altar dedicated to the Annunciation of Jesus. The high altar, which was in use prior to the changes brought by the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, is made of marble and is the work of Antonio Nikolas of

Senglea Senglea ( ), also known by its title Città Invicta (or Civitas Invicta), is a fortified city in the Port Region of Malta. It is one of the Three Cities in the Grand Harbour area, the other two being Cospicua and Vittoriosa, and has a popu ...

. The high altar was blessed on October 19, 1779. The titular painting depicting the Annunciation is the work of Pietro Gagliardi dating from 1874.

References

{{Subject bar , portal1= Catholicism , portal2= Malta Tarxien 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Malta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands Limestone churches in Malta

History

Interior

See also

References