Ta Pinu Sanctuary

The origins of the Ta’ Pinu are unclear and steeped in folklore. What is known is that initially, the property was owned by the noble family of ‘the Gentile’. In 1575, Monsignor Pietro Duzina, made a pastoral visit to the property under orders of Pope Gregory XII. He found the church to be in such a poor state that he ordered it to be demolished along with several others on Gozo.

However, this church would be the only one to survive because when a workman tried to start the demolition and struck the first blow with his pick, it resulted in him breaking his arm. This was seen as a sign that the property ought to be preserved after all and so it was spared. The church changed hands in 1585 and became known as ‘Ta Pinu - that is ‘of Philip’ after Pinu (Philip) Gauci, who was the procurator of this church, paid for its restoration and commissioned the altar painting of the Assumption of Our Lady in 1619 by Amadeo Perugino. This work was called Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu.

The story of the church is woven around this painting and outside the church are the words ‘Ejja... fi hdan Marija, issib lil Gesu’ – ‘Come, Jesus is found in Mary’s arms’.

Following on from the broken arm incident, the next reported apocryphal moment in Ta’ Pinu’s history occurred in 1883 when a 45-year-old spinster and devotee of the Blessed Virgin, Karmni Grima, heard a call when she was returning from the fields. She heard a woman’s voice say: “Come, come!” The devout peasant woman followed the mysterious voice and realised it was coming from the image of the Virgin inside the church, who told her to recite three ‘Ave Marias’.

This might well have been dismissed as the deranged musings of a mad woman had it not been for the fact that in the intervening years three miracles were attributed to the Grace of Our Lady of the Assumption. Within a short time the little chapel became a devotional shrine and a place of pilgrimage.

And so, in 1887, the church authorities agreed to erect a larger church in the Romanesque style to handle the crowds and the foundation stone was eventually laid in November 1920. The new church was consecrated in 1932 and in 1935 Pope Plus Xl elevated it to the status of Minor Basilica. The shrine was visited in 1990 by Pope John Paul II, who celebrated mass in the forecourt.

The small museum found towards the back of the Basilica contains a lot of artefacts of interest including an ex-voto of silver heart which contains a record of one of the first organised pilgrimages to the shrine in 1895. Funding has recently been secured to restore the museum along with 12 works of art by Maltese artist Joseph Briffa.

The museum is open on Sundays from 8am to noon but the church opens from 6.30am to 7pm. It is closed between 12.15pm and 1.30pm. Admission is free but be sure to dress appropriately.

To find Ta’ Pinu take the Gharb road from the capital, Victoria and just before you arrive in Gharb the road forks. Take the right hand fork which is Triq Ta’ Pinu, which eventually leads to the church. Bus number 308 is the one you need for Ta’ Pinu.