BASILICA OF TA'PINU

Situated between Gharb and Ghammar, the Ta'Pinu church, with its separate bell tower rising like a minaret, dates from 1920. Behind the church, a small ^16th-century chapel was a highly venerated place of pilgrimage in the last century.

On June 22, 1883, Carmela Grima, a 45-year-old widow, heard a voice. The Virgin asked her to recite prayers for her during the three days of the Assumption feast; this miraculous message was repeated several times. According to local history, the Gozitans' prayers also prevented a plague epidemic from spreading to their island. With the influx of pilgrims, it was decided to build a larger church next to the chapel. A collection from all Gozo inhabitants enabled work to begin in 1920. The church, completed in 1931, was consecrated in 1932 by Pope Pius XI, before receiving the title of basilica.

The small miraculous chapel is integrated into the building at the back of the nave. Today, the Basilica of Ta'Pinu is a place of pilgrimage for the Maltese and Gozitans. It takes its name from a man named Pinu Gauci, who looked after the original small chapel.

It is interesting for its neo-Romanesque style: marble canopy, Byzantine cornices, mosaics, stained glass windows and Romanesque bell tower, as well as for its many souvenirs and offerings, in memory of the Virgin's miracles. Plaster legs, crutches and pins no longer needed, extraordinary newspaper articles, testimonials (from World Trade Center survivors, for example) and letters of gratitude and thanks to the Virgin adorn the walls of both wings of the church, from floor to ceiling. The whole is rather macabre, but instructive if you concentrate a little. Pope John Paul II himself came to pray in the chapel during his visit to Malta in 1990, and there are plenty of photographs to remind us of this.

Others show a monument dedicated to Ta'Pinu in Australia, the homeland of many Maltese. As for the widow Carmela Grima, she is in the process of being beatified.

A Way of the Cross has been laid out between the church and a nearby hill where a huge cross is planted.

The Carmela Grima Museum (2 Gharb Street), dedicated to the 45-year-old widow touched by the Virgin Mary's ultrasound, has reopened. It's well worth a visit, and audioguides in French are available. Visits from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.