|
|||
 |
Gozo Travel Information, Malta
|
GOZO is an unspoilt island at the centre of the Mediterranean where the sea is crystal clear and unpolluted and the sun shines most of the year. |
 At
the centre of the Mediterranean, just south of Sicily, the sunshine island
of Gozo has a well-kept secret. While its sister island of Malta is a
flourishing centre of commerce and tourist activity, Gozo is a part of
a disappearing rural world where the countryside matters and where no
one, visitor or local, ever seems to hurry. This is the island of tranquillity.
It was not always like this. For although Gozo has never been heavily
populated or developed, it has suffered the same historical violent turns
of fate as the larger island that is 20 minutes away to the south by car
ferry. |
| Until the Knights of the Order of St John of Jerusalem arrived in 1530 to make these islands at the crossroads of the Mediterranean their base and protect the inhabitants, pirates used to land in Gozo's harbours and pillage the countryside. They kidnapped as many of the simple farmers and their families as they could and sold them as slaves on the Barbary Coast. Today this kind of activity seems impossible to imagine. |
 Although the walled Citadel with its jewel-like Cathedral dominates the land and centuries old watch towers stand guard over all the bays, the island has a way of life that seems untouched by the outside world. It may have its fair share of daily visitors who come to see its dramatic landscape and enjoy what Gozo has to offer, but they do not disturb the peaceful way of life that is Gozo's special possession. |
| Gozo is small. It is a tiny gem dotted with little hilltop villages, green fields and Baroque churches. There is a temple dating back to before 5,000BC, salt pans where salt have been dried in the sun since the days of the Romans and a countryside that is both dramatic and beautiful. This is where the wide variety of seasonal fruit and vegetables reach perfection. On the north of the island the village of San Lawrenz is small, a cluster of cream coloured stone houses around a charming parish church. |
 Not
far away is the sanctuary of Ta' Pinu, a neo-Romanesque church that is
a place of pilgrimage, and below the village on the water's edge only
a short distance away is an area of strange geological faults known to
the locals as Dwejra but known to visitors as the Inland Sea for easy
reference.Dwejra is a photographers' delight. This is where the Inland Sea is situated, a crater into which the sea flows through a narrow entrance in the towering rocks and where coloured fishing boats wait to ferry visitors out to see the Azure Window, a natural rock arch that stands with one foot in the sea, and the nearby Fungus Rock where in times of the Knights a medicinal plant grew. So prized was this plant that the Knights punished with death anyone caught stealing it. It is in this timeless, magical part of Gozo overlooking the Dwejra coastline that San Lawrenz Leisure Resort is set. It is an area famed for the beauty of its landscape and a countryside rich in produce. |
| Mgarr Harbour The first impression one gets of the Mgarr Harbour today is one of bustling activity. The increase in the number of vessels using its facilities may be partly the reason for this increasing activity. Most of all, however, it is the great development of the port facilities, presently taking place, which conveys the impression.  The harbour area remains one of great scenic beauty. Approaching Gozo from the sea, one is impressed by the beautiful verdant cliffs and valleys overlooking the harbour. Fort Chambray is conspicuous on the wooded hill overlooking the two quays. Between this hill and the cliffs on which Ghajnsielem stands, nestling on top an olive-lined hill, one's attention is captivated by the beautiful church of our Lady of Lourdes. This church built in a Gothic style is at the center of attraction. The port is studded with stores, warehouses, garages and fisherman's
shed. a broad square-like wharf has been built at the foot of 'Ras it-Tafal'
on which Fort Chambray stands. |
 Lourdes
Chapel The chapel of our Lady of Lourdes, built on a hill used to be known 'tal-Qortin' overlooking Mgarr harbour. This was built in the year 1888. The work was finished by the Maltese architect Caruana Galizia on a Gothic style. This is a place of pilgrimage for people from all over the island, especially in the days coinciding with the 'visions of Our lady of Lourdes' in southern France. The benefactor of the statue was Carolina Mamo and the artist was Carlo Darmanin On 25 May 1879 the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes was put in her place and blessed on 3rd June 1883 by Bishop Pietru Pace. Works on this chapel were finished on 6 February 1892 and a year later, in 27th August 1893 it was blessed by bishop Giovanni M. Camilleri. |
|
Ta' Cenc Ta' Cenc, an island in an island is ideal for those who are looking for that special holiday of complete tranquility and relaxation. Place of Remoteness  The
sense of remoteness that pervades Ta' Cenc has two aspects. The first
has to do with a feeling of physical and emotional detachment from the
world that surrounds it. This is in part a visual effect derived from
position and land form. Interestingly this sense is not produced by
closing the view, but rather by opening it to the horizon on all sides.The site is set off from the rest of the island by the valley of Mgarr ix Xini. Equally important is the subtle rise towards the western boundary, which creates a horizon, shutting off the view of the settlement immediately to the west. The distant views across the valley to the town of Xewkija and across the channel to Malta give the sense that one is in a place removed from the world around it. The sense of remoteness is particularly associated with the area of the plateau and the promontory of Ras in Newwiela, which is entirely cut off offering views only of the imposing cliffs and the open sea. The second aspect of remoteness of the place is a sense of timelessness, which is almost palpable. Here it seems that time is measured differently from elsewhere, be the changes of the wind, the motion of the sun and the lives of the plants that cling to the surface of the rock. Nor is there a straightforward way to identify its place in history. With the exception of the hotel, and the villas, all the anthropic signs - fields and terrace walls, ruins, hides and cart ruts - are relatively subtle and ambiguous. The age, provenance and function of these forms is virtually impossible to ascertain. |
Sacred Place It
is not the presence of a recognizable shrine or direct religious association
that lends Ta' Cenc its air of sanctity; it depends rather upon the confluence
of set of conditions that have the effect of lifting the human mind and
spirit beyond the limits of quotidian concerns. Nor can the unmistakable
sense of sacredness pervading the plateau at Ta' Cenc be attributed exclusively
to the rather ephemeral archaeological remains. More important is the
fact that the few concrete traces of religiosity are unenclosed and set
apart from virtually all subsequent development or modification. The stones
of the dolmen, megalithic alignments, gallery grave and temple remains
may be difficult to distinguish from the scatter of rock produced by natural
forces, but these objects seem to belong to and express a condition present
in the site. Standing up from the table of rock, acquire a relation with
the horizon, with the elements sky, sun, sea and wind, and with a landscape
in no way softened by nature or humanity. In precisely the abstraction
and severity of these conditions lies a distinct spirituality captured
by the builders of the megalithic monuments and still evident today.Parker and Rubenstein have identified the Borg ta' L-Imramma Temples as part of a cruciform pattern of sacred sites on Gozo, which may even be connected with sites in Sicily. While these relationships are not visible to the modern visitor, the temple site does convey a sense of centrality and a microcosmic quality. The site swells gently at the centre of the plateau and offers a complete panoramic view. The nearest horizon at the edge of the plateau echoes the curved forms of the temple spaces and the curve of the earth itself. Thus the archaeological value of the site is amplified by its extraordinary unspoiled context. The visitor, therefore, has the opportunity not only to experience the site in much the same condition it was when the temple was built, but also to appreciate its sacredness at a more universal level as a concentrated microcosm of the human condition. |
Ancient Inhabitation Although
there is no significant settlement on the site at any time in history,
the place does bear a profound imprint of ordinary human life and labour
over extended periods of time. These signs are not obtrusive and the most
obvious are the cart ruts and the system of terrace walls and fields.
Parker and Rubenstein have positions a connection between the Cart Ruts
and the terracing, arguing that the two were produced at the same time;
that is that the ruts appeared as the consequence of the need to transport
material for the creation of the terracing. This is still a matter of
historical speculation and dispute; on the other hand it is clear that
the sense of antiquity of the site is amplified by the contrast between
these two systems. The cart ruts represent a type of ancient infrastructure,
apparently connected with movement repeated over long periods. Today however
they present the past as a distant and separate reality. |
| Ecological Rarity The Ta' Cenc property contains one of the most extensive underdeveloped and relatively unspoiled area in the Maltese islands. Its ecological importance has been unequivocally established in Technical Studies, where Dr. Schembri lists 25 rare, endangered and ecologically important species in his report. He invokes the image of a mosaic to describe the the rich diversity and interconnection of the plant communities at Ta' Cenc. The idea of the mosaic also captures an important aspect of the sense of the place in that the site is much more a surface than an enclosure. Virtually nothing grows higher than a meter off the ground and the experience of the ground as a sort of ecological tapestry becomes very clear as one walks over the site. The general impression is one of the tenuousness and tenacity of the ground cover: plants grow in the cracks in the rock and on the cliff faces, flower cluster at the edges of the rock pools. Slight changes in the environmental conditions have obvious consequences in respect of the predominant plant species. Crossing the ridge at il Qortin il-Kbir, the change in the Garigue is extremely clear, as is the fact that the forces at work in contrast with the greater parts of the Maltese islands, are entirely natural. This delicate balance in the ecosystem, its complexity, its relatively unspoiled quality and the presence of both rate and typical plant species give the place its sense of ecological rarity. |
 | |
| |
|