vi warkentin

Time to say good-bye to Malta.  

Gozitans are the inhabitants of Gozo, the second largest island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean. Some of the nicest and kindest people on the planet live here.  We spent a day wandering around this tiny and peaceful island in the Mediterranean.

A short ferry ride from the main island of Malta took us past the tiny island of Comino, arriving at the Harbour of Mgarr located on the eastern edge of Gozo and the town of Ghanjsielem.  The island itself is no bigger than Manhattan - 14 km at its length and just over 7 km in width.

Gozo is home to the world’s oldest free-standing structures, the Ggantija temples, built during the Neolithic period (making these temples over 5500 years old!).  We had planned to make a second trip out to Gozo before heading home but plans changed and, sad to say, I never got the chance to see the Ggantija temples after all!  I was relieved to know that I got the chance to see Hagar Qim, on the main island of Malta earlier in the trip - one of the world’s oldest free-standing structures. 

Even with its tiny size, the island of Gozo has 22 churches!

In the center of the island is Victoria, the capital of Gozo but fondly referred to by Gozitans as Rabat.

The cathedral within the citadel in Victoria.

We wandered out of town on foot to the west side of the island, in hopes of locating a place I had read about (an important centre of pilgrimage for the Maltese people) - a chapel from medieval times and also the tomb of Carmela Grima, a local fieldworker who, in 1883, heard the voice of the Virgin Mary summoning her to the nearby chapel in the countryside.

I didn’t know exactly what road we needed to take to get there.  Besides, it wasn’t like the island was that big so with my tiny map in hand, we headed out.  Along the way, we found fields filled with calla lilies - growing wild everywhere!

Each time we thought we were close as we came to the next town along the road, the locals would point west and say “about 15 more minutes that way”.  And so we walked…. and walked… and walked some more, through a few more towns, each time being told, “oh, it’s about 10-15 minutes that way”, always pointing down the road in the direction we were headed.  Another interesting thing we noticed was that many of the homes had keys hanging in the locks.  (At the end of our day, we inquired with one of the taxi drivers about the keys in the doors of homes and he looked at us oddly.  “Well, how would your neighbour get in if they needed something and you weren’t home at the time? It’s still small island mentality here in Gozo where people know and trust one another”, he said. We, no doubt, met some of those wonderful people that day!  

Now back to our wandering in the countryside of the Gozitans.

We finally arrived at the medieval chapel (or at least WE thought we had) and took a very quick tour on our own through the church (which I thought was in great condition, by the way, for a structure from medieval times!) We had wandered for such a lengthy time in the Gozo countryside looking for this place that time was ticking away and we had to get back to the other side of the island to catch the last ferry back to Malta. We had no time to waste but with no taxi in sight, we managed to talk a chauffeur (who had just dropped off his clients at the church) to drive us back into town.  He finally agreed, leaving his guests to wander the church on their own and drove us back into town.  Arriving back in Victoria within 5 minutes, it was clear to us that we had initially taken the wrong country road out of Victoria earlier in the day and weren’t really that far from where we had started!

The church we toured through (and THOUGHT was the medieval chapel) turned out to be the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin of Ta’ Pinu only to be told by the driver on our way back to the ferry that, in fact, the original medieval chapel and tomb that we had been looking for was actually located at the back of the present church we had just been in minutes earlier, reached by corridors on either side of the alter which are now apparently cluttered by votives left behind by those allegedly healed by the Madonna’s miracles.  

Ugh!

We had literally been steps away from the medieval chapel and tomb that we had trekked across the countryside to find and now we were literally across the island waiting for the next ferry back to Malta. So close!   

Traveling abroad always gives me plenty of opportunities for spotting interesting signs.  Here are a couple - both these spotted in Rabat, on the main island of Malta. Unfortunately, the store in the second photo was not open business as I was hoping to check out the deals!

A trip wouldn’t be complete without a stop at a beach so we ventured to the west coast of Malta to Golden Bay Beach.  A quiet day when we dropped by as noted by the locals.  Atop the cliffs along the coast to the north of the bay sits a number of resorts with the Radisson SAS Golden Sands Resort and Spa in these photos.

Further along the south edge of the beach, we climbed the low cliffs to get this vantage point.  Gorgeous vegetation.

 Up and over the other side brought us these amazing views of water and flowers.
 

Rotunda (Church of St. Mary’s), located in Mosta, central Malta has quite the history and is known for it’s magnificent dome. It’s massive unsupported dome, measuring 40 meters in diameter is the third largest in all of Europe, superseded only by St Peter’s Basilica in Rome and the St Sophia in Istanbul.

But perhaps it’s better known for that time back in 1942 (WWll) when the church filled during Mass took a direct hit from a German bomb. The church was filled with over 300 people at the time when a 200 kg bomb pierced the dome and fell to the floor……..but it failed to explode. It was removed and diffused and amazingly, no one was hurt. Could it have been a miracle? Many believe so. There is now a replica of this bomb inside the church’s sacristy.

As part of the Maltese archipelago, Comino is a very small island between the islands of Malta and the most western island of Gozo in the Mediterranean Sea. One of the most popular areas of Comino is its Blue Lagoon.

Standing on Comino overlooking Blue Lagoon with the islet Cominotto in the background. The cyan waters are incredibly transparent and rich with marine life - popular with divers and snorkelers.  On this particular morning, there was hardly anyone there.  Peaceful.One of the structures on this tiny island.

This burst of green caught my attention as I wondered the cobblestone streets and alleys of Vittoriosa, Malta.  

Vittoriosa, the oldest of the so-called ‘three cities’ lies within the Grand Harbour of Malta.  Even though a name change to Vittoriosa some four centuries ago, many of the local Maltese stlll refer to this city as ‘il Birgu’.

I loved walking the narrow streets and alleys of this beautiful city - with its limestone buildings and cobblestone streets. At one point, I came across a street vendor going down the street, calling out to the residents advertising his fresh produce. 

The many streets and alleys without vehicle traffic offered up a feast for the eyes.

I could not bypass this scooter shot!

St John’s Co-Cathedral, located in Valletta and built between 1573 and 1578, is a perfect example of baroque art and architecture. Nothing particularly striking about the facade but definitely a feast for the eyes on the inside. But don’t even think about wearing your stilettos if you’re planning to visit.  The smaller the diameter of your high heels, the more likely you could shatter the inlaid marble floors.  There’s even a diagram at the entrance with a certain sized circle where you can measure your heel against to see if it makes the grade to be granted entry!  If not, you can always buy cheap slippers (or so I’ve heard).  Not being one to wear my stilettos much while trekking has its advantages!

The interior is incredibly ornate - definitely baroque. With the interior mostly decorated by Mattia Preti, a Calabrian artist and Knight, one only has to look to the painted ceilings and carved limestone walls to see the magnificence of this artist.  It must be noted that all the carving was done in-place (not done somewhere else and brought in and attached to the walls!)  

This is one of the many intricately carved ceilings in one of the eight side chapels of the Cathedral.

Another feature inside is the collection of 400 inlaid marble tombstones located in the central area of the Co-Cathedral where several generations of European nobility, members of the Order of St John, lie buried. Each tombstone comes complete with the coat of arms of the particular knight buried there.  Each tombstone tells a story - often a story of a victory in battle.  

St John’s Co-Cathedral also has a large museum and alongside famous paintings by Caravaggio, another highlight is definitely the 29 fine Flemish tapestries presented to the church in 1701.  The tapestries were a gift from Grand Master Ramon Perellos at the beginning of the 18th century as part of a traditional custom where the newly appointed Grandmaster gave a gift to the church. These tapestries used to be hung in the main area in St Johns each year on June 24th during the Feast of St John the Baptist but are now only used for special occasions, the last time being 1990. 

The 14 largest tapestries measure six by six and a half meters( that’s right, meters!) They are truly impressive in size and quality.  This priceless collection is the largest of its size in the world.

A Malta must see is the Sunday fish market near the harbour in Marsaxlokk ( pronounced ‘marshashlock’) - a port located SE of Valletta (about a 35 minute bus ride).

The sun was shining. It was a beautiful warm day in Marsaxlokk and the view of the harbour was amazing - filled with decorative boats called luzzus.

 
I loved how the brightly painted colours of the boats played against the bright blue sky but this tiny green boat really caught my attention. 

 
The market had everything - garden produce next to household cleaning products next to flowers next to crocheted doilies and tablecloths next to…..you get the idea - anything and everything at this market!

But what was not to be missed was the fish market in the middle of it all.