Church of St Dominic & The Blessed Virgin - The Best Mobile Map and Guide Tool if you visit Malta!

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Building - Church of St Dominic & The Blessed Virgin
Church of St Dominic & The Blessed Virgin

At the beginning of the 13th century the Pope approved the Dominican Order. This Order is a Catholic monastric Order established by a Spanish priest, St. Dominic from France.

In Rabat there is a cave where the Virgin Mary had appeared according to the legend and spoke to a sportsman ( a local bird hunter ) who had taken refuge in a cave.

In 1450 the Dominican monks came to Malta and built their first monastery on this cave. The church of ‘St. Dominic & The Blessed Virgin’ is now established there.

Supported by the King of Spain the Maltese government and local privat donors started building a church  in 1457. In 1466 the base was laid of Our Lady of the Cave. The complex was finished in 1500. Around 1520 the Ottoman Empire took over the monastery  to use it as a fortified location to attack Mdina.

The building suffered a lot from the combat activities and the rebuilding started in 1630.The monastery took the forms of a Middle Age fortress with fountains, a garden and a big inner court. On the walls there are still big sundials from the 1717s period.

An important Maltese relic is located in St. Dominic’s Convent, namely a marble statue of the Virgin Mary which cried tears of blood. The Virgin Mary had twice cried tears of blood in 1999 after feasts dedicated to The Virgin Mary.

The events were thoroughly studied and the statue can  now be seen in the Church of Our Dear lady of the Cave. The statue is of course protected.

Holy Mass
Temporarily closed
Additional Online information

Look for opening times and location in our free app or for checking the original website of the spot.

Additional information

In the background you can see the statue of the crying Virgin Mary.

Church of St Dominic & The Blessed Virgin - Sanctuary

St. Dominic's Convent - An impression
This Church of St. Dominic page is part of “The Malta Magazine”.

This magazine is for every resident and visitor to the country of Malta. But is also educational and for anyone interested in Malta.  The Malta Magazine highlights the past and present of specific subjects and/or places of interest with the help of extensive information and photos.

As a tool during your journey of discovery through Malta, you can use our information services free of charge. You can do this in two ways, via our website https://maltaguide.pro or our app depending on your operating system, Google Play or Apple Store. Both give you the same information.

“The Malta magazine” is the best, ultimate and most comprehensive magazine you can get of Malta.

The magazine is growing fast and will soon contain more than 350 interesting topics.

Find and discover interesting sights and discover the many historical secrets of the country Malta. Find all things to do and places of interest in your exploration.

“The Malta magazine” is also convenient whether you are walking, driving a car, or using the hop-on and hop-off bus trip, boat trip, etc.

“The Malta magazine” provides you with general information about the sights, Malta’s beauty, secrets, history and culture, its architecture, fortifications, etcetera and specific information as: what took place here?; When was it built and by whom?; What are the functions of all these.

“The Malta magazine” describes also religious subjects, museums, parks, places of interest, public toilets and much more useful information. Interesting texts set up by local experts and additional informative photos make this app distinctive.

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In this "Malta Magazine" you will find the location, address, opening hours and admission / entrance fee, general additional information and news about the spot.

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“The Malta magazine” is free while you normally would pay for a guided tour, you may enjoy navigating through Malta on your own terms.

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The skillfielly texts are written by local experts and additional informative photos make  “The Malta magazine” information provision distinctive.
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