Ta’ Pinu Basilica

Ta' Pinu, a basilica famous for grace, miracles and pilgrimages

The Ta’ Pinu Basilica is located is the village of Gharb in the North Western Part of the island.  It is particularly known for its annexed museum recording hundreds of stories of alleged miracles, making the church a famous site for pilgrimages.

The origins of this Ta' Pinu Basilica are not known, but the first records of a chapel were found in the archives of the Curia in Gozo, noting that the chapel, belonging to the noble family of “The Gentile”, had just been reconstructed. In 1598, Pinu Gauci became the procurator of the church and that’s from where the church got its name.

The miraculous feel goes back to 1883, when a woman who was walking by heard the voice of the Virgin Mary in the chapel. In the subsequent years, many miracles and acts of grace were manifested at the site, all attributed to Our Lady of Assumption, to whom the church was dedicated.

The locals sustain that prayers recited in the cahpel rescued Gozo from the plague, and therefore they decided to build a magnificent church on the site, in honour of the Blessed Virgin. The existing church, Ta' Pinu Basilica was built between 1922 - 1932, in a neo-romantic style, with the help of local volunteers and funds from migrants.

On the interior, there are six mosaics and several coloured windows. The steeple is a massive 61 metres high. Pope John Paul II visited the shrine in 1990 where he celebrated mass there.