Victoria

Victoria or Città Victoria is the capital of Gozo, an island of the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The town has a total population of 6,414 (November 2005), and by population is the largest locality in Gozo.

Victoria is the name given in 1897 by the British government on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, at the request of the Bishop of Malta, Mons. Sir Pietro Pace. However Gozitans still often refer to it by its old name, Rabat. The area around Victoria, situated on a hill near the centre of the island, has been settled since Neolithic times.

 The interior of the Cathedral of Assumption inside the citadel in Victoria

The Citadella

In the heart of Victoria lies the Citadella (Citadel), which has been the centre of activity of the island since possibly Neolithic times, but is known to be first fortified during the Bronze Age approximately around 1500 BC. It was later developed by the Phoenicians and continued into becoming a complex Acropolis by Roman times.

 The exterior of the Cathedral of Assumption.

The north side of the Citadel dates back to the Aragonese domination period, while the south flank, overlooking Victoria, was re-constructed under the Knights of St. John, namely between 1599 and 1603 The massive defensive stone walls of the fortifications rise above the town and were built by the Knights to protect the village communities from foraging corsairs attempting to take slaves and threatened invasion of Moslem forces fighting Christendom.

Within its walls lies a fine 17th century baroque Cathedral designed by Lorenzo Gafà, the Maltese architect who also built the Cathedral of Mdina. It is said that it lies on the site where a Roman temple dedicated to Juno once stood. It is most famous for the remarkable trompe l'oeil painting on its ceiling, which depicts the interior of a dome that was never built.

St George's Parish

This parish, which covers the whole of Victoria, caters for a little over half of the population of Victoria, as it is a personal parish (as opposed to other parishes who are territorial) operating in the city of Victoria. Its parish church dedicated to St George has the status of a Basilica. This church was built in the 1670s and suffered severe damage in the earthquake of 1693. A new façade was built in 1818. The dome and the aisles are of recent construction (1930s and 1940s). There are several works of art in this church which include the painting of the dome and ceiling by Gian Battista Conti of Rome and other paintings and sculptures by Mattia Preti, Giuseppe d'Arena, Stefano Erardi, Alessio Erardi, Francesco V. Zahra, Giuseppe Calì, and contemporary Alfred Camilleri Cauchi and John L. Grima. The titular statue of St George was carved from solid wood by Pietro Paolo Azzopardi in 1838 and is the first titular statue on the island. The area over which the church is built is of considerable archaeological interest, with evidence of activity dating back to at least to the Roman period.

The parish celebrates two feasts during the year: 23 April, the official date celebrating the death of the martyr, and the third Sunday of July, when the solemn festivities in honour of Gozo's patron saint are held.

Villa Rundle

These gardens are situated between Republic Street and the Main Car Park in Victoria. One can seein these gardens a bronze bust of the Gozitan 18th century historian and grammarian Can. Gian Pietro Agius de Soldanis and another of Gozo born French poet and writer Laurent Ropa.

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Write by: AN - Friday, October 17, 2014