Around the island of Gozo

Most people come to Malta chasing the postcard gloss of Valletta or the blue shimmer of the beaches. Gozo? It’s the dusty side alley of the Mediterranean, the slow heartbeat of the archipelago, and that’s the actual reason to go.

The island of Gozo has been a crossroad for cultures since ancient times given its strategic value. The first sight is the port of Mgarr, where the Lourdes Chapel is towering on a nearby cliff. But don’t stop there, the island contains much more.

As I step off the ferry in the port of Mgarr, there’s no chaos, no vendors. Just old stone, salt air and the subtle hum of island life. The Lourdes Chapel is towering on a nearby cliff, but I quickly gets on a bus that works its way uphill past Xewkija (gotta love these weird names).

After a while I get off in Victoria, the capital that still stubbornly clings to its old name Rabat among locals. Streets coil like time itself got tired and decided to take a nap in the sun. I find some Gbejniet cheese on a piece of bread, which gives me energy to carry on.

Rubble of past civilizations at the Citadel of Victoria.

I pass the Cathedral of the Assumption, said to be built upon a Roman temple, and continue uphill. The Citadel itself, perched smugly on a hill, has seen crusaders, corsairs and British colonials come and go. It’s been under siege more times than most relationships. These ramparts have heard the prayers of farmers and the curses of invaders, all under the same endless Mediterranean sky. From up here, Gozo unrolls in all directions. History past and present.

Roaming the Citadel of Victoria.

If old stone is not really your thing, there is also the windmill of Xaghra, the neolithic temples of Ggantija and the fishing village of Marsalforn. Or why not stretch into the myth domain and visit the cave near Ramla bay, supposedly the one referenced in Homer’s Odyssey where Odysseus was kept prisoner by Calypso.

Gozo isn’t flashy. It won’t likely trend in any app. But if you lean into the silence, eat what the locals eat and let the dust settle on your shoes, you might just understand why some people never leave.