Church of St Margaret, Sannat

Church of St Margaret
The Matrix Parish church of St Margaret
Il-Knisja Matriċi u Arċipretali ta' Santa Margerita
Church of St Margaret
36°01′37.1″N 14°14′34.9″E / 36.026972°N 14.243028°E / 36.026972; 14.243028
Location Sannat
Country Malta
Denomination Roman Catholic
Website www.sannatparish.com
History
Dedication St Margaret of Antioch
Consecrated 19 October 1755
Architecture
Status Active
Functional status Parish church
Architectural type Church
Style Baroque
Administration
Parish Sannat
Diocese Gozo
Clergy
Bishop(s) Mario Grech
Archpriest Michael Curmi

The Parish church of St Margaret is a Roman Catholic church that serves the village of Sannat in Gozo, Malta

History

The original church dedicated to Saint Margaret of Antioch dates back to the late Middle Ages. It is documented as functioning in 1575. It is also recorded that in the 16th century the church had a cemetery and a bell tower. When the parish of Sannat was created on April 28, 1688 by Bishop Davide Cocco Palmieri, the chapel of St Margaret was chosen as the new parish church of Sannat and neighbouring Munxar. Prior to this, the localities of Sannat and Munxar were part of the parish of St George in Rabat. In fact it was one of the first parishes to be established in Gozo after the original parish of St George.[1]

As the population of the two localities grew it was decided to build a new and larger church. Work commenced in 1718 and when finished, was consecrated on October 19, 1755. The new church was built in the form of a Latin cross. The church was enlarged in the 1860s and blessed once work terminated on 22 November 1868. The two spires and the dome were built later in 1910. The parish church was raised to the Archipresbyteral status on 27 December 1893 and on December 12, 1957 the parish church became a matrix when Munxar became an independent parish.

The church building is listed on the National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands.[2]

Works of art

The titular painting depicting St Margaret of Antioch was done by local artist Stefano Erardi. The original titular statue of St Margaret was first brought to Sannat in 1863. In 1891 the statue was replaced by the present one. The feast in honour of St Margaret is celebrated every year on the 4th Sunday of July.[3]

References

  1. "History", St Margaret's Parish church, Sannat. Retrieved on 12 August 2015.
  2. "Parish Church St Margaret" (PDF). National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  3. "Sannat", Diocese of Gozo. Retrieved on 12 August 2015.

36°01′37.1″N 14°14′34.9″E / 36.026972°N 14.243028°E / 36.026972; 14.243028Coordinates: 36°01′37.1″N 14°14′34.9″E / 36.026972°N 14.243028°E / 36.026972; 14.243028

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 25, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.