Is the Il-Mosta Dome or the Xewkija Dome the third largest dome in Europe?
Both the Mosta Dome on Malta and the Xewkija Dome on Gozo claim to be the third largest domes in Europe, and neither is necessarily wrong. It all depends on how the dome is measured.
The problem with the term “largest” is that it is vague. What exactly does largest mean? If one man weighs 200 pounds and another weighs 300 pounds, the one who weighs more is the largest. Likewise, if one man is six feet tall and another 7 feet tall, the one who is taller is the largest.
However, if the 6 foot tall man weighs 300 pounds and the seven foot tall man weighs 200 pounds, who is largest? One could then say that volume is the measure for the largest individual, with one man being 1800 feet pounds and the other being 1400 feet pounds, but that just seems ridiculous as far as measurements go.
The dome at Il-Mosta was built in 1860 and is the site of its own miracle. In World War II, a bomb fell into the church where mass was being held, skittered across the floor and did not explode. Its internal diameter is 122 feet according to The Pantheon: Design, Meaning, and Progeny by William Lloyd MacDonald, and it claims to be the third most voluminous dome in Europe.
The dome at Xewkija measure 75 meters high with an 85 meter circumference, which is roughly 279 feet. Clearly based on circumference alone, the Gotizan dome is larger. However, it should be noted that the Il-Mosta dome circumference is based on the inside of the dome, and that the walls of the dome are 30 feet thick, which would greatly increase the circumference of the dome on Malta.
Finding the measurements of both domes on the Internet has been a difficult task because I do not want to use Wikipedia as my source. That just means that I will have to investigate further when I arrive in Malta.
The problem with the term “largest” is that it is vague. What exactly does largest mean? If one man weighs 200 pounds and another weighs 300 pounds, the one who weighs more is the largest. Likewise, if one man is six feet tall and another 7 feet tall, the one who is taller is the largest.
However, if the 6 foot tall man weighs 300 pounds and the seven foot tall man weighs 200 pounds, who is largest? One could then say that volume is the measure for the largest individual, with one man being 1800 feet pounds and the other being 1400 feet pounds, but that just seems ridiculous as far as measurements go.
The dome at Il-Mosta was built in 1860 and is the site of its own miracle. In World War II, a bomb fell into the church where mass was being held, skittered across the floor and did not explode. Its internal diameter is 122 feet according to The Pantheon: Design, Meaning, and Progeny by William Lloyd MacDonald, and it claims to be the third most voluminous dome in Europe.
The dome at Xewkija measure 75 meters high with an 85 meter circumference, which is roughly 279 feet. Clearly based on circumference alone, the Gotizan dome is larger. However, it should be noted that the Il-Mosta dome circumference is based on the inside of the dome, and that the walls of the dome are 30 feet thick, which would greatly increase the circumference of the dome on Malta.
Finding the measurements of both domes on the Internet has been a difficult task because I do not want to use Wikipedia as my source. That just means that I will have to investigate further when I arrive in Malta.