One Small City - Two Names - A Great Place To Visit (Other locations...)

Member Name: meah

Product:	Other locations...
Date:	22/10/01 (94 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very slow pace of live, lots to see for such a small place

Disadvantages: Most people pass by without stopping

Victoria, also know as Rabat, is the capital city of the second largest of the Maltese Islands, Gozo. Unfortunately most people who visit Gozo on a day trip from Malta do not visit Victoria, they drive through it on their way to the local beauty spots.

Victoria is a city full of narrow streets with old houses that have typical Mediterranean style balconies adorned with brightly coloured flowers and it is dominated by the Citadel built high on a cliff with magnificent views. The city is more commonly known as Rabat, which is its Arabic name, but in 1897 the British renamed it Victoria in honour of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and most signposts on Gozo give both names.

If you enter the city by car from the port at Mgarr you will pass Rundle Gardens leading onto Republic Street, this is the main street and it leads you onto a bustling central square known as Independence Square. This square is the commercial centre of the island during the day and during the evenings it is full of both locals and tourists sitting outside the little bars and cafes; it has an open-air market, numerous shops and tiny bars and it is the heart of the city.

In the centre of Independence Square stands a World War II monument and on one side of the square is St. James church which was built in the mid 1700’s and on the other side of the square you find a rounded building also dating from the mid 1700’s, which is an information office.

Behind Independence Square there are a number of picturesque streets and alleys with small shops selling jewellery, fruit, antiques, the local sheep’s cheese, and locally made lace items. Also just off Independence Square you find St. George’s Square, which was the old town, square, in this square you find St. George’s church, an old Baroque church dating from the mid 1600’s.

If you go back up to Independence Square from St. George’s Square and cross to the other sid
e you come to Castle Hill, this leads you up to the Citadel. Inside the Citadel walls you come across a square and if you climb the stairs in the square you come to Gozo’s Cathedral, the Cathedral doors are flanked by two bronze cannons and inside on first looking you are led to believe that the Cathedral has a doomed ceiling however this is a very cleaver illusion and there is actually a painting on a flat surface which gives the impression of a dome.

Other interesting places to visit within the Citadel are the Cathedral Museum which houses ceremonial items and robes, the Crafts Centre, the Archaeological Museum, where you find exhibits of Roman artefacts, a 12th century tombstone of an Arab girl and remains from prehistoric times, the Folklore Museum with examples of pottery and lace among its exhibits and of course you have the usual souvenir shops.

The highlight of my visit to Victoria has to be the panoramic view of practically the whole island of Gozo that you get from the ramparts of the Citadel, the ramparts date from the 16th century and it takes about 25 minutes to walk right round them however it took me well over an hour because the views are stunning and you just want to stop and gaze out over different parts of the island as you walk around.

If you ever visit Malta and go over to Gozo for the day, or holiday on Gozo itself, Victoria is a city you should visit, it is best to give a full day to Victoria but if you are just driving through at least stop for half an hour to walk around the Citadel ramparts.

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