A guided Heritage Trail and tour is being organised by Heritage Malta. The title is ‘In Defence of the Cross’ – Gozo Defence Strategies by the Knights of St John.

The day tour will visit Mgarr ix-Xini Coastal Tower (1661), the Dwejra Tower (1652) and from there a tour of the Citadel to visit the gun powder magazine, silos and the Old Prisons.

During the Knights of St John, coastal towers were built specifically to protect the island’s coastline from continuous attacks by corsairs and Turkish invasions. Mgarr ix-Xini bay was used by Turkish raiders during their raids on Gozo, especially the famous raid of 1551, when according to historians, the whole population of the island was carried off into slavery. The Mgarr ix-Xini Coastal Tower, build in 1661, is one example of a structure constructed on the coast in order to prevent such events. Similarly, the Dwejra Tower was completed in 1652 to safeguard another side of the island’s coastline. Dwjra Tower was built during the time of Grand Master Jean Paul Lascaris Castellar and also periodically used by British forces up to the Second World War when it was used as an observation post.

Also included within this Heritage Trail will be a visit to the Citadel, including guided tours of the Gunpowder Magazine & Silos, that were recently opened to the public, and the Old Prison. The Old Prison were in use from the mid-16th century until the beginning of the 20th century. The list of notorious noble inmates is quite significant, with the most historical one being Fra Jean Parisot de La Valette, later Grand Master of Malta. In 1538 he is recorded to have been sent to the Gozo prison for four months, after having attacked a lay man.

Tickets for the Day Tour, which takes place on Saturday, the 21st of January are available from HM’s Head Office in Bighi, Kalkara, cost €12 for adults and €8 for children (12 years & under.) Tickets for HM members €10. The price includes the services of a guide, transport in Gozo and entrance to all the sites. There will be a break in Victoria to take lunch.

For more information please contact 2395 4242.

Permalink: Gozo trail on defence strategies by the Knights of St John