GoZo – Window on the World

Destination 》Europe 》Southern Europe 》Malta 》GoZo

Year Visited: 2018 – October

After end of our Backpacking through the Balkans Journey, my younger son Raul and I continued our journey and took a flight to Malta, a small island nation in center of the Mediterranean Sea, part of Southern Europe. While in Malta we made a day trip to GoZo, home to some of the oldest religious structures in the world.

Gozo, known locally as Għawdex, is the second-largest island in the Maltese archipelago in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, just 95km south of Sicily, Italy It is smaller, more remote and less built-up than its sister island Malta, but it is a popular place with its pretty countryside, beautiful sunsets, spectacular coastlines and a high concentration of churches, alongside historic fortifications and megalithic temples.

Gozo has been inhabited since 5000 BC, when farmers from nearby Sicily crossed the sea to the island. Due to the discovery of similar pottery found in both places from the Għar Dalam phase, it has been suggested that the first colonists were specifically from the area of Agrigento.

Public Transport on this small island is an excellent way to cover grounds, there is a Hop-on-Hop-Off bus, but we travelled everywhere on the island using public bus.

Pictures below are from our day trip to this beautiful island of Comino.

First view of GoZo Island from a Malta-Gozo ferry.

Marina of Mġarr, a harbor town on GoZo island. This is the place you will arrive by Ferry from Malta.

The Coat of arms of Victoria or Rabat on the street near the Cittadella, we will consider this as a Manhole Cover for our collection. Victoria also known among the native Maltese as Rabat or by its title Città Victoria, is the capital city of Gozo.

Gozo Cathedral, also known as a Cathedral of the Assumption, a Roman Catholic cathedral in the Cittadella of Victoria in Gozo, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gozo since the formation of the diocese in 1864.

A Roman Catholic parish church in Xagħra, dedicated to the Nativity of Mary. The present building was constructed between 1815 and 1855, on the site of a smaller church which had been built in the 17th century.

The Rotunda of Xewkija, in the village of Xewkija, built in the 20th century on the site of a previous church, has a capacity of 3000, enough for the entire population of Xewkija village. The church bells are rung daily for the canonical hours Matins, Lauds, Terce, Sext, None and vespers. The Church’s dome is the world’s third highest unsupported dome. The Rotunda is the largest church in Gozo and one of Gozo’s distinctive landmarks.

Ġgantija Temples, built between 3600 and 3200 B.C, before the famous standing stones at Stonehenge and Pyramids of Egypt, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Ġgantija Temples Heritage Park, 5500+ yeard old free standing structures, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Ta’ Kola Windmill, a grain mill in the village of Xagħra-GoZo, is one of the few surviving windmills on the Maltese Islands dating back to the Knights’ Period. The mill was first built in 1725 during the reign of the Order of the Knights of Malta, to meet the economic needs of a growing population.

The Coat of arms of Għarb on the street near the Basilica of the Visitation, we will consider this as a Manhole Cover for our collection. Għarb, Maltese for West, is a village located at the westernmost point of the island of Gozo, Għarb was created as a parish in 1679.

The Basilica of the Visitation, a baroque, collegiate parish church located in the village of Għarb. The present church was built between 1699 and 1729, with an elegant façade which has been compared with Church of Saint Agnes in Piazza Navona, Rome.

Local festival at the Chapel of St Demetrius, also know as San Dimitri Chapel, a small rural Roman Catholic church located in Għarb. This is the only church in Malta dedicated to this Greek saint.