Mosta

Mosta is roughly in the geographical center of the Island of Malta and, in times gone by, it was considered to be far enough inland to be relatively safe from corsair attacks. The chief attraction is now the monumental church whose design was inspired by the Pantheon in Rome. Its dome is the fourth largest in Europe: the three other domes being in Rome, London, and Xewkija in Gozo. The building was started in 1833; it was built around and over an older church which continued to be used durink the time work was in progress. In the machine age in which we are living this sounds like an exceedingly long time, but one should bear in mind that the labour on this church was done on voluntary basis, in the little spare time the people had at their disposal.
This church, like many other of the older churches in Malta, could be said to be a monument of faith. In 1942 a thousand pound bomb penetrated the dome but failed to explode.   

The bomb which hit the Cathedral during the last war without exploding.
Below: View of the spacious interior of the Church of Mosta.

Mellieha

In the old maps, two landmarks are indicated to the north of the Maltese Islands: the saltpans, and the old church of Mellieha. The production of salt has been moved to another place (the old saltpans were once sited where the Ghadira Bird Sanctuary now stands), but the old semi-underground church dedicated to Our Lady still stands; in it a fresco of the Virgin Mary was, according to tradition, painted by St. Luke himself who, with St. Paul, was shipwrecked not far from here in the year 60. Scientific study of the icon has assigned it to a more recent, but still very ancient period.
The old saltpans are gone but they have given their name to the town of Mellieha, melh being the Maltese word for "salt".
Most of the sandy beaches, none of them very big, are found to the north of Malta, not far from Mellieha, the largest being at Mellieha Bay itself.