On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Winter Wren
We stayed Thanksgiving week of 2024 in Gozo. Gozo is the smaller and more pastoral island just north of the main island of Malta in the Mediterranean. We rented an accommodation in the Ta’ Għammar neighborhood of the small village of Għasri north of the main city of Victoria.
A few minutes walk out of the neighborhood and toward the nearby town of Għarb leads to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of Ta’ Pinu, completed in 1920.
The basilica has a pleasing facade for the front entrance. The interior contains some very fine mosaics.
Across from the basilica, there is a famed outdoor “stations of the cross” with statues representing the events of the 14 different stations commemorating events of the crucifixion in the Roman Catholic tradition. Visiting the stations requires climbing a steep pathway road to the top of a small hilltop. I climbed one morning to capture the sunrise.
The views from the top are panoramic – much of the island can be seen from it. Here is the view north to the Ta’ Ġurdan Lighthouse overlooking the Mediterranean. Directly below the lighthouse in this view is the small neighborhood where our rental apartment was located. This hill was one of the few locations where there were significant numbers of trees. I encountered several hunters with their hunting dogs patrolling the hill side as I walked up.
The lighthouse can be seen from most of the northern part of the island. Here is a closer view one day when we walked to the small nearby “Lighthouse Grocery” store in the main village of Għasri. Unfortunately, the lighthouse is undergoing repairs and it was not possible to visit it.
Most yards were enclosed using the characteristic sort of local blocks shown in the foreground here.
Many yards had an abundance of bougainvillea blooms overflowing their enclosing walls. We found that we had arrived at the beginning of the growing season. Here, winter is the growing season as the hot and dry winds of the scirocco from the Sahara preclude significant summer rainfall and attendant plant growth.
Looking south from a similar stroll to the village center, one could see the hilltop where the stations of the cross previously pictured were located. The hillsides on the island are heavily terraced to maximize cultivation. Plowing of the fields was just beginning when we visited.
The citadel of the city of Victoria is visible when walking just beyond the main village of Għasri. During the sack of Gozo by the Ottomans in 1551, a small number of inhabitants escaped capture and enslavement by scaling down the walls on the left side of this view.
The main village of Għasri is dominated by the Corpus Christi Parish Church (another church constructed in the early 1900s, at a similar time as the nearby basilica). This view of the church is taken while starting the descent into the beginning of the valley known as Wied il-Għasri.
Here is a view looking down toward Wied il-Għasri and the Mediterranean beyond. The picturesque small canyon inlet on the sea itself was only a couple of miles walk from our rental. The town perched on the hilltop on the right is Zebbug (which we did not visit). Prickly pears were in abundance everywhere on Gozo, many in late stages of fruit.
The second part of this series highlights Wied il-Għasri itself.
Baud
Hidden gem. Thanks for sharing.
J.
How interesting! Didn’t know about Gozo.
eclare
The photo at sunrise of the “stations of the cross” is beautiful.
Deputinize America
We didn’t get to Gozo when we went to Malta for Carnival last year. Looks MUCH quieter.
Winter Wren
@Deputinize America: Yes, we also spent a day and a half in Valletta before leaving for Istanbul. It was nice to explore the old city in Valletta there, but we loved the slower and more pastoral vibe of Gozo much better.
Although you could walk to a lot of interesting places, we rented a car to travel further on the island, especially into Victoria for dinners and to see the citadel (which is really cool to see lit up at night). It was my first time driving British-style on the “other” side. The roads were extremely narrow also. I was very glad to ditch the car at least when we went to Valletta.
sab
I have a potted bouganvillea that just came up from the basement with a geowlight to actual sunlight. All its little leaves are smiling in relief.
Melissa M
These are all really lovely photos, and the place looks magical!
WereBear
@Winter Wren: In my nightmares, I realize I’m in a strange car driving British style…
sab
Malta looks so much greener than I expected it would.
Steve in the ATL
What a beautiful place! What led you to visit there? And were you able to watch football on Thanksgiving?
Torrey
Amazing pictures. Particularly interesting as the siege of Gozo is a main plot point in one of Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond novels, so it’s interesting to see it from the point of view of someone who has visited it.
Steve in the ATL
@Winter Wren:
sounds like driving in Ireland: on the wrong side of a car on the wrong side of the road with a stone wall to one side and a sheer dropoff to the other and the road is only a lane and a half wide and there is a tour bus coming. I still don’t know how I survived that trip. Luck of the Irish, perhaps. Anyway, hope your driving experience was less harrowing!
Doug
Gorgeous photos! Vivid colors and really pretty light, Gozo looks lovely.
Driving on the left is fun, and parallel parking in a right-hand-drive car is really really fun. I’m glad that flights to Cyprus often arrive in the dead of night, because my reflexes after the very first right-hand turn often put me into the wrong (right) lane, and it’s good to be able to recover at an hour when nobody else is likely to be on the road.
MCat
This is great. I had no idea that this place was so beautiful. Thanks for sharing your trip with us.
Ph64n
@Winter Wren: We stayed in the VRBO in the Citadel for a few nights in late December, visiting my son who lives in Xlendi. The citadel is open 24/7. Most of Victoria is within walking distance, but we found Bolt — a European Uber — very reasonable to get around the island. All the drivers are from somewhere else, so great music and conversations.
Steve in the ATL
@Ph64n: love Bolt! Fun drivers, like you said, and also way cheaper than Uber.
Spanish Moss
@Torrey: It is funny you mentioned that, reading about Malta in The Disorderly Knights is what motivated us to visit (I am Winter Wren’s wife). We both loved that series. This was one of our best trips ever.
Winter Wren
@WereBear: It was definitely stressful for me!
Winter Wren
@sab: The main island was definitely more urban with less green. Perhaps during the summer there is also less green.
Betty
@Doug: I know what you mean.
Ph64n
@Winter Wren: it is very brown outside of the winter rainy season.
Malta is one of the top ten most densely settled countries, and I think that’s with Gozo factored in.