The Citadel, Victoria

A visit to Gozo should begin in Victoria, the island's capital. Victoria was named after the English monarch Queen Victoria, to commemorate her Silver Jubilee in 1897. Even today, many locals still call it by its original name, Rabat (which means city). This commercial hub with its street market (known as it-Tokk, in Independence Square) also contains the Citadel (known often as the Gran Castello or the Cittadella), an impregnable strategic point which owes its origins to the late mediaeval era, and which was re-fortified by the Knights of the Order of St. John to act as protection for the inhabitants.

For many centuries, pirates and corsairs used Gozo's small harbours for shelter, while they raided the island in search of fresh produce and water. Often they took the inhabitants captives in order to sell them as slaves. To save themselves and their families from this terrifying fate, the inhabitants, on discovering the enemy had landed, would flee to the highest point at the centre of the island.

The Citadel was comparatively safe, but its walls were not impregnable and would probably not have been able to withstand the onslaught of an armed force determined to enter. After their victory in the Great Siege of 1565 against the Ottoman Turks, however, the Knights reinforced the Citadel's vertical battlements, and it is these we see today.

Within its walls lies the cathedral designed by Lorenzo Gafa, built between 1697 and 1711. At the time it was constructed, money was in short supply so its dome was never erected, but this imperfection was brilliantly disguised by an Italian painter, Antonio Manuele. In the interior of the Cathedral he created a magnificent trompe l'oeil painting that shows the interior of a dome in full splendour.

Inside the Citadel one also finds the Cathedral Museum with vestments, silver and gold items used in sacred services. There are the Archaeological Museum which holds several objects found at various sites in Gozo, the Natural History Museum and the Folklore Museum. There is also a craft centre housed in the old prison buildings, which provides a window on local crafts, both traditional and modern.

Not to be missed are the spectacular views across the island from the battlements. An earthquake in 1693 damaged many of the mediaeval buildings within the walls, but these are now being restored.