In Maltese, Gozo is known as Gh¯awdex (pronounced ‘audesh’), which translates as ‘joy’. And indeed, Gozo is a joyous place. One of the three main islands of the Maltese archipelago, it is a 25-minute ferry ride from Malta. Steeped in the same deep and complex culture as Malta, it has a gentler pace of life, with its wide open unspoilt spaces, limestone farmhouses, and hidden beaches. Many older locals tell me that Gozo reminds them of the Malta from their childhood. However, even Gozo is changing, including significant conservation projects at two of the island’s most important heritage sites: the Ċittadella and the megalithic temples of Ġantija.
Celebrating the Citadel
The purpose of my visit was to see the new work at the Ċittadella, or the Old Citadel as it is also known. Dominating the island’s capital of Victoria, the monumental Ċittadella has been on Malta’s tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1998. Unfortunately, the great site was steadily degrading: both the sandstone bedrock on which it stands, and the coralline limestone from which its walls were hewn, are incredibly friable. In 2010, a conservation masterplan was therefore drawn up for the citadel. Six years and €21 million later, the work (co-financed by the EU) was in its very final stages when I visited in mid-June, due to be completed in mid-July 2016.
John Cremona, Project Leader, took me on a tour, beginning in the Ċittadella’s attractive new visitors’ centre, which outlined the deep history of the site. Here we discovered how the site, as with neighbouring Malta and with Sicily, was occupied by successive waves of people, including the Phoenicians, Romans, and Arabs. Perhaps the most dramatic period occurred from AD 1541, after the Knights of the Order of St John took control of the Ċittadella, strengthening the walls to protect against ever-increasing attacks by the Ottoman corsairs who raided the Maltese islands for slaves. The largest of these attacks took place in 1551, when a force of around 10,000 Ottomans invaded Gozo, besieging the Ċittadella and capturing an estimated 5,000 people who had taken refuge within. It is said that only around 40 elderly people were spared, while around 300 others escaped. Exaggeration or not, this was clearly a devastating time for Gozo.
