Bank of Valletta presented a financial contribution towards the restoration works currently being undertaken at the Attard parish church. The donation was presented by Tania Camilleri, manager of Bank of Valletta’s Attard branch to Fr Dione Cutajar, parish priest of Attard.

“Our contribution towards this much needed restoration project forms part of Bank of Valletta’s efforts to play an active role towards the enhancing of the communities in which it operates by contributing towards the preservation of Malta’s heritage,” outlined Ms Camilleri during the presentation of the sponsorship cheque. “We appreciate the substantial investment involved in the safeguarding of our national and cultural heritage. In this regard, we are delighted to lend our support towards the restoration of this parish church which is, in itself, a building of high historical value,” said Ms Camilleri.

Explaining the historical value of the church, Fr Cutajar said “the parish church of the Assumption in Attard was built according to the plans of Maltese architect Tumas Dingli. Tumas Dingli was involved in the construction of a number of other parish churches however, and interestingly enough, the church in Attard is the only remaining one that still stands as Tumas Dingli had originally designed it. All others have been demolished or altered in some way or another. This fact only enhances the prestige and historical significance of our church,” concluded Fr Cutajar.

Thanking Bank of Valletta for its generous contribution, Fr Cutajar said “this is one of Attard parish’s most important projects aimed at restoring and safeguarding our picturesque parish church which has sustained a lot of weathering throughout the centuries. Our church dedicated to the Assumption, represents the core of our locality and all parishioners are proud to have an institution like Bank of Valletta that takes an active involvement in the well-being of their locality.”

In 1613, when Tumas Dingli was 22 years old, Fr Stiefnu Buttigieg, the third parish priest of Attard, requested him to design a new church for Attard since the old one was starting to prove rather small for the growing population of the village. This was the first church successfully designed by Dingli. The church was built between 1613 and 1624 and is considered a gem of Renaissance art. It is in the shape of a Latin cross - 31 metres long, 26.6 metres wide across the side chapels and 7.75 metres down the central aisle of the church.

The ceiling of each side chapel has a minor dome and a lantern. The dome is unique and rises above the upper-part that contains four windows, which alternate with four niches, and between all these there are eight pillars. The four niches contain statues of the four evangelists. The dome is divided into segments that complement the ceiling of the church.

The old sacristy, situated on the right-hand side as one faces the altar, was built on the design and guidance of master-builder Mikiel Mamo, from Attard, early in 1856 and was ready in 1857 and is two storeys high.

The façade of the church has a beautiful portico that surrounds the principal doorway. It also has two pillars above which there is a cornice adorned with sculpture so fine as to resemble local lace. Tumas Dingli himself sculptured all the work within the church together with Giovanni Attard. For this work he was paid 100 “scud” from the Procurators of the Church amongst whom there was Gakbu Dingli, Tumas’ father.