The Gozo aqueduct was built by the British between 1839 and 1843 to bring water from Ghar Ilma cave in Santa Lucija to Victoria, where it was stored in a reservoir within the Cittadella ditch.

This icon of the island is to be restored in a project aimed at the constructural consolidation and preservation of the structure.

This project is being carried out by a multidisciplinary team of experts led by conservation architect Dr Hermann Bonnici and is expected to cost €2 million and will be completed by the end of 2025.

The first phase of works, the urgent consolidation of the vulnerable parts of the aqueducts, was completed in 2017 under the then Gozo Minister, Justyne Caruana.

Announcing this next phase of the project, Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri said on Tuesday that, “this much-needed restoration will begin after all the necessary studies have been completed and permits have been issued by the competent authorities. Extensive restoration will ensure that this historic heritage, located to the west of the island, is preserved and eventually further enjoyed.”

John Xuereb, Director for Cultural Heritage within the Ministry for Gozo, said that the project is divided into a number of phases, with the first phase ready, which involved a geological investigation of the subsoil with the main aim of understand the nature of the aqueduct foundations and to determine the composition of the underlying geological strata.

In the second phase of the project, which will start in the coming weeks, there will be a temporary shoring of the main arch while the third and final phase of the project will focus on the structural consolidation of the foundations and the aqueduct conservation.

Photo by Alain Salvary

Permalink: Gozo aqueduct to be restored at a cost of €2 million