Gozo Island: Beyond Victoria, Victoria, Malta

The islands of Malta and Gozo provide two very different experiences. Gozo was the first of these two islands to be settled and therefore the most historic. These earliest settlers came from Sicily and would have reached Gozo first. Today regular ferries make their way across the Mediterranean Sea from two ports on Malta, the vehicle ferry from Ċirkewwa and Valletta. Arriving in Gozo visitors have several choices regarding travel around the island including public transport, taxi and hire car. But the most exciting conveyance is the tuk tuk - my personal choice.

We set off from Mġarr Harbour and made our way towards Qala. There is a viewing terrace on the outskirts of this village. From here we could see the other two islands in the Maltese archipelago, Malta and Comino. Malta is the largest island and the administrative centre. Gozo is the second largest and a centre for fishing and agriculture as well as tourism. Comino, the smallest is mostly uninhabited and has just one hotel. From this viewpoint we carried on to the village of Xagħra, famous as the site of the Ġgantija Temples.

Walking through Xagħra to the ruins of the Ġgantija Temples I passed the Ta’ Kola Windmill. This windmill was built in 1725 and is a typical windmill of Gozo. It was a working windmill until 1987 when the last miller died. Since then the windmill has been restored and a small museum was set up in the miller’s rooms. When the wind was in the right direction for the sails to turn the miller would blow through a triton shell so the villagers would know they could bring their grain there to be ground into flour. The heavy millstones are still in place and a collection of historic tools is on display in the old workshop. Traditional furniture and Gozitan crafts have been used to recreate the living quarters of the miller and his family on the first floor. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).