Citadel Gozo

The Citadel (Malt. Ic-cittadella, also known as Gran Castello) in Victoria is a heavily fortified fortress built in the heart of the island of Gozo.

In the past, its main task was to defend its inhabitants against invaders, and today it serves as a city-museum and the largest tourist attraction on the island.

The Citadel of Victoria can be compared to Mdina, a fortified city in Malta. The two places, however, differ in terms of architecture and plan: the Citadel is much smaller and served as a refuge during the siege, while Mdina was a full-fledged city from the beginning. The hill on which the Citadel was built was already inhabited in prehistoric times. They were also used by the ancient inhabitants of the island - both the Phoenicians and their successors, the Romans, who built the city of Gaúlos on the hill.

The Romans erected a temple dedicated to the goddess Juno on the top of the hill. Fragments of this ancient place of worship were found during the construction of the cathedral. Over the centuries, various ancient remains have been found in the Citadel, which can be seen in the Museum of Archeology and the Cathedral Museum.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Roman troops abandoned the city and withdrew from the island. The strategic location of the hill was also appreciated in the Middle Ages and a castle was erected on the ruins of the ancient city. It is not certain when it happened, however, the first references were found in documents dated 1241. The hill took the form of a citadel (surrounded by city walls) during the reign of Aragonese rulers who ruled the island from 1283 until the arrival of the hospitals. The medieval walls on the northern side of the citadel come from the Aragonese period.
At the time of the arrival of the Knights Hospitaller on the island, the Citadel was in poor condition, and its fortifications did not allow it to survive a long siege. In 1551, the Ottomans landed on Gozo and after a few days they captured the island and the Citadel .

During the Turkish invasion, all the inhabitants of the island (about 5,000-6,000 people) took refuge in the walls of the Citadel, which, unfortunately, quickly collapsed. Before the invaders entered the city, only a few hundred of them managed to escape - the lucky ones fled directly down the high walls. The rest, with the exception of several dozen old men, were chained and sent into captivity.
Hospitallers knew how to learn from their failures. In the years 1599-1603, they started an ambitious project to rebuild the Citadel and practically re-erected the wall surrounding the fortress (with the exception of the northern part, which has survived in its medieval form).

The Turkish invasion of the mid-sixteenth century, however, left a strong mark on the next century of Gozo's functioning. There were few inhabitants on the island on a daily basis. Moreover, by law, until 1637, everyone remaining on Gozo had to spend the night within the walls of the Citadel.
Over the centuries, a city known as Rabat developed around the fortress, which today serves as the capital of Gozo. The present name of the capital - Victoria - was given in tribute to the British Queen Victoria on her diamant jubilee on June 1887

Most of the current buildings of the Citadel, including the cathedral and the most important houses, date back to the 17th and 18th centuries.

The citadel is open to visitors and we do not need to buy a ticket to enter its premises. It can be said without exaggeration that it is an open museum in itself. Many historical buildings have been preserved in its walls: houses, chapels, churches and fortifications. While strolling through the local streets, we will come across information boards in English again and again.

In some of the historic houses, four museums were created: the Archeology Museum, the historic Gran Castello house (folklore museum), the Natural History Museum and the Old Prison.

The small Cathedral Square (Malt. Pjazza tal-Katidral) is the focal point of the Citadel. It is surrounded by the most important buildings: the cathedral (which can be reached by stairs; a statue of St. John Paul II stands in front of the cathedral), a court or a historic prison.

We reach the Cathedral Square almost immediately after crossing the main gate. A moment earlier, we will pass the information point where we can buy a combined ticket to museums.

After climbing the stairs from the Cathedral Square, we can enter the baroque Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is simply called the Cathedral of Gozo (Malt. Il-Katidral ta 'G?awdex).

A less magnificent church existed in this place even before the arrival of the hospitals on the island. However, the medieval building was destroyed during the Sicilian earthquake of 1693, the shocks of which reached Malta and Gozo. Lorenzo Gafa was responsible for the design of the new temple. This architect became famous as a designer of over 20 baroque churches. One of his works is the Cathedral of St. Paul in Mdina.

The "painted" and non-existent dome is considered to be the greatest treasure of the cathedral interior. The author of this illusionist work (trompe l'oeil) was Antonio Manuele from Sicily. The artist painted it in the place where the dome was actually supposed to be, but in the end only an opening closed with a flat roof remained. The floor of the nave is filled with marble tombstones. They were used to decorate the graves of knights and other important personalities. Similar marble tombstones can be found in the cathedral in Mdina and in the co-cathedral of St. John in Valletta. The cathedral was built exactly on the site of the ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Juno. Fragments of Doric columns can be seen in the Cathedral Museum, which is located in a small building directly behind the cathedral.

Folklore Museum
The Gran Castello Historic House (Malt: Dar Storika tal-Gran Kastell) serves as the Gozo folklore museum. The facility was created by combining several 16th-century buildings. The buildings are distinguished by the late Gothic architecture that appeared on the island with newcomers from Sicily and Catalonia. During the tour, we will see how the former inhabitants of Gozo lived, but also how they lived - part of the collection presents tools used by local farmers, fishermen and craftsmen. During the walk through the maze of rooms, we will find, among others for the kitchen or bedroom. In addition to the exhibits, the museum also has several multimedia presentations.
Old prison
The oldest prison on the island, used from the mid-16th to the beginning of the 20th century, stands on the Cathedral Square, right next to the courthouse. In the past, the court and the prison were connected, but are now separated from each other.
The old prison was used primarily as a place to put unruly knights in a vertical row, although sometimes ordinary residents were also imprisoned here. If any of the hospitals got into a fight or a drunken brawl, they usually ended up here. One of the famous inmates was Jean de la Valette (later Grand Master, after whom Valletta was named), who spent in year 1538 four months in prison after being charged with a beating.
The prison complex consists of six small cells, a courtyard and an entrance hall that served as a group cell. During the tour, we can walk around the entire complex, which is preserved in a condition similar to its original. The greatest attraction of the prison are graffiti carved on the limestone walls by inmates. In addition to simple dates, names and inscriptions, also more elaborate works have survived: the ships on which the Hospitallers traveled the seas.

The inscriptions and paintings carved by prisoners were not discovered until the 90s of the previous century, after the layer of white paint had been removed.

Museum of Archeology
The Museum of Archeology on Gozo (Maltese: Il-Mu?ew tal-Arkeolo?ija ta 'G?awdex) presents objects and artifacts belonging to former inhabitants that have been found on the island - from prehistoric times to antiquity, until the arrival of hospitals on the island. The museum is divided into three exhibitions: prehistory, the ancient period (from the Phoenicians to the Romans) and the Middle Ages until the arrival of the Knights Hospitaller on the island. Among the exhibits we will see, among others ancient utensils, jewelry and other finds from Phoenician tombs, Roman anchors, Roman tomb, Arab tombstones and other finds. The museum is housed in a 17th-century, two-story building, which can be found just outside the main gate leading to the Citadel. The building was inhabited by the Bondì family, hence its name: Casa Bondì.

Museum of Natural Science: moon rock and all about nature in Gozo
The last of the four museums is the Nature Museum, which was created in three historical buildings from different periods (the oldest dates back to the end of the 15th century, and the newest to the 17th century). The museum is located on the ground floor and the first floor with a nice garden. The museum's collection focuses on the geology, flora and fauna found on the island. At the exhibition, we will see, among others: rocks, minerals, insects, birds and various sea creatures. A part of the exhibition is devoted to Dwejra Bay and the plant found there, known in the times of the hospitals as the Maltese mushroom (fungus melitensis, the scientific name is scarlet cynomorium), which the hospitals considered one of their treasures. The exhibition also features fragments of the moon rock and the flag of Malta, which flew to the moon in 1969 with the Apollo 11 mission. These exhibits were donated by Richard Nixon, President of the United States of America, to Maltese people.

Gunpowder warehouse, silos and a bunker from the Second World War
Thanks to the efforts of volunteers from the Wirt Gawdex organization, we can visit several historical buildings that helped residents during a siege or attack. One of them is a complex of three monumental silos that served as grain storage facilities. Hospitallers kept supplies in them, thanks to which they could survive even a long siege. From the advent of the British until 2004, the silos were used as water tanks. In addition to the silos, you can also visit: a powder magazine, tunnels converted into shelters during World War II and an artillery battery.
For some, the greatest attraction of the Citadel will be the opportunity to walk along the walls and bastions, from which there is a view of the entire area. We can enter both the fortifications facing Victoria, as well as those from which we will be able to admire the farmlands stretching to the north.
One of the preserved buildings in this part of the citadel is the austere church of St. Joseph (Malt. San Guzepp). Inside the chapel is a copy of the Mannerist artist Filippo Paladino, which depicts the escape of St. Joseph to Egypt (the original can be seen in the Cathedral Museum). It is worth taking a moment to walk between the ruins and approach one of the viewpoints from which there is a view of the northern part of the island.