Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Gozo

  • Malta – Gozo – Ġgantija Temples

    Ġgantija is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and although it is slightly argued over, this site is perhaps the second oldest man-made structure in the world which is still standing. The temples date back 5,500 years and mark a significant and quite remarkable construction effort for the time.

    A visit for most people starts at the entrance, but I decided to try and get into the exit before a staff member helpfully mentioned I was in the wrong building. Anyway, the visit for everyone else starts at the entrance and they first go into a museum which gives the background of the temples.

    Above are circular stones which were found on the site and it’s thought that these were used in moving the larger stones into place. This site pre-dates the creation of the wheel and these circular stones have been found in similar temple sites on the islands.

    The sheer age of this site means that most items found here are some of the oldest of their kind in the world. This is a decorated pot, with the decoration added after the pottery was fired. It’s thought to be around 4,500 to 5,000 years old.

    This is one of the stone slabs found at the site, but moved inside in 1957 to better protect it. It has a carving on a snake on the side, again making this one of the earliest representations of a snake in existence.

    These are cow toe bones found at the site, sculpted to represent human faces.

    A skull found at the site which dates back to the Neolithic period.

    Using the above skull they have been able to recreate what the person would have looked like, it was a young female.

    Significant analysis has been made on the bones found at the site, and this individual suffered from spina bifida. They died at between the age of 8 and 13.

    This individual suffered from osteomyelitis, which is a bone infection which can apparently now be treated easily today with antibiotics.

    After visiting the museum there is then the site itself. There was a coach party ahead of me, but they were leaving just as I arrived at the site. So, I had this site pretty much to myself.

    They picked a nice site to place their temple.

    The front of the site. Unless some other temple sites, this has avoided being messed around with too much. The British cleared the debris from the site in the 1820s, which probably caused significant loss, but nearly everything visible is original. Other than the scaffolding and the walkway obviously.

    The side of the site.

    Some of the structure is being supported by scaffolding to prevent any little collapsing incidents. There are long-term plans to remove the scaffolding by fiddling about with the stone, but I hope they don’t do too much fiddling with it.

    A walkway into the main temple area.

    It is thought that this is a later amendment to the main doorway as there is evidence of metal working, which wasn’t available to the original builders.

    The walkways inserted into the site to let visitors see the stonework.

    This is one of the few areas where there has been some restoration, but it was done in the nineteenth century shortly after the stones fell and was based on paintings drawn a few years before.

    The scaffolding is extensive around the site.

    This is nineteenth century graffiti which was added to the stones by people who visited the site, often as part of their Grand Tour. It was acceptable at the time, I assume because no-one thought to put a visitor’s book at the site. There are cameras at the site to stop anyone adding their little inscriptions now, although it’s still happening on occasion much to the fury of Heritage Malta.

    Anyway, I felt that this was an amazing site and one of the most important heritage sites that I’ve visited. For this to have been created by the people of the time with such limited means is a substantial achievement, and it’s impressive that it has remained standing since. Some of the site got buried over time, but it would have been easy to quarry some of the stone, history has certainly treated this site well.

    To amuse myself, I had a little look on TripAdvisor at the negative reviews, and this was a favourite:

    “Please don’t waste your money,or more importantly time visiting this place. How other people reviewed this at five stars beggars belief.Its a collection of nothing”.

    Hmmmm. The site’s response was professional and quite accurate IMO…

    “The Ġgantija Temples Heritage Park has recently benefitted from a major investment, which saw the construction of an Interpretation Centre that presents detailed information of the site, audiovisual facilities and a collection of unique artefacts from Gozo’s prehistoric legacy. This precedes the visit to the Neolithic temples of Ġgantija, a monument which has survived 6,000 years and which has been recognized by UNESCO as one of the earliest architectural accomplishments in human history. In view of this, the comment ‘a collection of nothing’ seems hardly fair.”

    Another little treat:

    “We visited on a rainy day and had it to ourselves. The museum was semi interesting. We then walked to the site and saw a bunch of rocks, many of which were held in place by metal scaffolding. Anything of interest was removed long ago, so you saw a pile of rocks. It really wasn’t much different than any other pile of rocks we’ve seen on Gozo. We left feeling quite disappointed. Sorry for the critical review but we expected a lot more.”

    The site didn’t deem this one worth replying, perhaps the metal scaffolding should be removed so that everything could fall down. And then they could build a McDonald’s at the site…. Great plan….

    And my final TripAdvisor review which I enjoyed reading:

    “We were taken to the Xaghra Stone Circle as part of our full-day guided tour of the island of Gozo. When the tour arrived there and we were guided through the small museum and then out on to the site under the blazing midday sun, we were wondering what we were actually doing there. We were taken around to see several different piles of rocks with the tour guide providing descriptions as we went. However, as it was so hot, very few members of the tour group could actually concentrate on what she was saying. If you are an archaeologist and piles of old rocks are your thing then this is the place for you. If not, give it a miss!”

    I thought that as piles of old rocks go, they’re some of the most amazing that I’ve seen. But, each to their own  🙂

  • Malta – Gozo – Ghajnsielem Parish Church in Frame

    This is a clever little idea, place a frame up at a viewpoint over the town so that visitors can take a photo of themselves and the background. Or in my case, just the background, which is Ghajnsielem Parish Church in the town of Mgarr.

  • Malta – Gozo – Walk near Mgarr

    This post is just photos, it’s a walk from Mgarr (where the ferry terminal is at Gozo) along the coast. Very nice.

     

  • Malta – Gozo – Victoria – Air Raid Shelters

    Located under the Cittadella is this 32-room complex constructed during the Second World War to be used as an air raid shelter. The complex fell into disuse recently, but a €50,000 renewal was announced in early 2018 to open them back up again. Unfortunately, the plan to re-open them towards the end of 2018 doesn’t seem to have worked out. I’m basing that on the fact that it’s 2019 and they’re still shut…. Anyway, at least work is on-going.

    An information panel by the entrance. If I can get back to Gozo in a few years to see the new museum, I can hopefully come here as well.

  • Malta – Gozo – Victoria – HOG

    This medium-sized cafe had an inviting selection of cakes and it also had a welcoming environment. It seemed quite popular in terms of the number of customers and it served a wider selection of hot meals as well. They don’t accept card payments which is a little unusual for Malta, although perhaps just a little less so for Gozo, and I noted someone tried to pay by card and got refused.

    A latte and slice of cake, all well presented. The cake was dark chocolate orange, with a suitably rich flavour as could be expected. The price wasn’t too bad, a little over £4 for both the coffee and cake. The service was efficient, if not particularly engaging, but it was a clean and comfortable environment.

  • Malta – Gozo – Victoria – New Museum

    I visited all of the museums in the Cittadella and it did seem that some were old-fashioned and a little out of place. The buildings that they were located in were often more interesting than the contents and I wondered why they didn’t just build one single museum.

    However, it seems that the city is doing just that, with this €5 million new building which will bring together the collections that Heritage Malta have, as well as give space for new exhibits and themes. It won’t be finished for another three years, but work is underway and it looks like a constructive project which will make the museum more accessible and engaging for visitors. The European Union provided the remaining funding for the project which will be the first time that Gozo has had a single museum of this type.

    The museum is being built on the site of a boys’ school which recently closed, although they’ve maintaining some of this 1950s modernist structure into the new building. Hopefully I’ll get to come back in a few years to see how it looks.

  • Malta – Gozo – Victoria – Old Prison

    This prison was first established in Victoria, inside the Cittadella, by the Knights of the Order of St. John in the mid-sixteenth century. One of the early inmates was Jean Parisot de La Valette, who went on to become an inspirational leader when as Grand Master he resisted an attack on the islands from the Ottomans.

    There’s a larger common cell, which is now the museum’s ticket office, and then six smaller cells in the older part of the prison. It was all once connected to the Courts, which are still located next door. Above is a recreation of a prisoner sitting in one of the smaller cells.

    The cells remained in use until 1962, although they had been used in conjunction with another prison from the late nineteenth century. There was also another floor of cells located above the original block which were added at a later date, and towards the end this prison was primarily just used for those awaiting trial.

    Visitors can go in two of the prison cells, the others are visible only through the little windows on the doors. The sanitary conditions in the prison were actually of a decent standard, especially given the period in which they were in use, with inmates allowed to shower frequently and they also had access to a doctor.

         

    Above are images of the graffiti which are visible all around the cells, etched into the limestone. This must have been a frustrating situation for the prison guards, who would have found it difficult to stop the graffiti given how soft the rock is. There is today a large sign telling visitors not to add any graffiti to the walls, something which the Cittadella itself is suffering from.

    However, the graffiti made by the prisoners is interesting, especially when it’s dated. Above are photos with some examples of the graffiti, such as hand prints, ships and also lines which indicate how long a prisoner has been incarcerated. The graffiti lasted so long as there was a thick layer of lime whitewash pasted over the top of it, which has only recently been removed.

    I visited with my Heritage Malta pass which I obtained on my first trip to the islands, but the entrance fee is relatively cheap, costing €5 for all the museums in the Cittadella. I was suitably amused by some reviews of the site on-line complaining that the museum isn’t very big. Quite how some people expect the museum to magic up more space in a nearly 500-year old prison is a mystery to me, but such is the delight of reading these reviews….

  • Gozo – Victoria – Maze of Streets

    Victoria, also known as Rabat, is the capital of Gozo and is a delightful little town which has plenty of character. There is somewhat of a maze of streets in the central area of the main town, that is to say away from the Cittadella, which is the fortified area of Victoria.

    Numerous photos, which I admit do look a little similar, below….

  • Gozo – Victoria – Stone Cross

    This stone cross is similar to many other located across the island and it marks the perimeter of the church grounds. This one is thought to have been particularly important as it belonged to the Gozo Matrice, which is now the city’s cathedral. It has been sited in this square for some time, although was moved in the 1960s (or 1970s depending on the source, and I have no obvious way of checking which it is) when the road was widened. When they restored it recently they discovered another level of stones at the base that they hadn’t realised were there.

  • Gozo – Victoria – Stanley’s Chippy

    After visiting five museums and two cafes during the day, a fine dining experience awaited. Well, what I call fine dining, which was a very British fish and chip shop in the middle of Victoria. The restaurant (I’ll call it a restaurant, although it was something between a cafe, chip shop and restaurant) is in a beautiful location, situated in front of the Cathedral of the Assumption. It’s quite a small restaurant, just a handful of tables and a small kitchen area, but it was clean and comfortable.

    The drinks menu, very reasonably priced.

    The drink, a refreshing Fanta  🙂

    The large fish and chips, which is the restaurant’s signature dish, and which was well presented with everything at the appropriate temperature. The portion size was generous and it was well drained, so wasn’t at all greasy. The batter on the fish had a light and pleasant taste, with an rich flavour. The fish was light and it didn’t taste like cod, although I have no reason to suspect that it wasn’t. The chips were firm on the exterior and fluffy on the interior, with the mushy peas actually having a decent taste. It was all well above average, with the batter on the fish and the mushy peas being of a notable high standard.

    The service was near perfect, a rare level of friendliness and engagement from a staff member who seemed proud of what the restaurant offered. The whole service style was informal and down to earth, and I got the impression that a regular group of customers come here and that there’s a little community going on.

    This isn’t the restaurant that I would have expected in the location in which it’s sited, but I’m glad that it’s there. It had a welcoming feel to it, with the staff being pro-active and helpful. I felt comfortable whilst eating here and got the impression that the food would of been of a high standard across the entire menu. The restaurant doesn’t seem to want to pretend it’s something that it’s not, and the menu was compact and manageable. All rather lovely.