Discover Gozo

What is a must see in Gozo in Summer? FESTA, FESTA, FESTA!!!

The village parish festas are a tradition that stretches back to the 16th century. The festa is the main social event in the village every year and the week is the outcome of months of hard work by willing volunteers and villagers to feel a strong, close-knit camaraderie after so many months of preparation. It is definitely a time for spiritual contemplation but it has also became part of our culture and traditions, and a must to see!

• May 29th – St Paul’s Shipwreck, Munxar
• June 5th -  St Anthony, Ghajnsielem
• June 12th – Corpus Christi, Ghasri
• June 19th – Sacred Heart of Jesus, Fontana
• June 26th – St John the Baptist, Xewkija
• June 29th – St Peter & St Paul,  Nadur
• July 3rd – Visitation of our Lady, Gharb
• July 10th -  Our Lady of Soccour, Kercem
• July 17th – St George,  Victoria
• July 24th - St Margaret, Sannat
• July 31st -  St Laurence, San Lawrenz
• August 7th -  St Joseph,  Qala
• August 15th – St Mary, Victoria
• August 21st – St Mary, Zebbug
• August 28th – Our Lady of Loreto, Ghajnsielem
• September 8th – Nativity of our Lady, Xaghra

CONGRATULATIONS!!! The WINNER is…..

Congratulations Christine Sillato…

1. Mgarr ix-Xini watchtower, Mgarr ix-Xini Bay
2. St. Demetrius Chapel, Gharb
3. Ggantija Temples, Xaghra
4. L-Ghajn il-Kbira, Fontana
5. Annunciation(Lunzjata)Chapel
6. Dwejra Tower, Dwejra
7. Ta’ Gurdan Lighthouse, Ghasri
8. St. Anne Chapel, Dwejra

*  5 person got the 8 place correct.
*  ‘L-Ghajn il-Kbira’  was sent as ‘Wash House’ or ‘Triq ta’ l-Ghajn’
     and  ‘St Anne’s Chapel’ as ‘Dwejra Chapel’.

COMPETITION – WEEK 4 – Final

This Weeks photos are:

1: Rising 161 metres above sea level, the only one in Gozo.

2: Dedicated to St Anne, blessed in 1963.

COMPETITION – WEEK 3

This Weeks photos are:

1: Dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

2: Built in 1652 during the reign of Grand Master Lascaris.

COMPETITION – WEEK 2

This Weeks photos are:

1: One of the oldest free-standing structures in the world.

2: Known as ‘the way of the spring‘.

COMPETITION TIME!!!

Yes its True! We are giving a 1 Night Stay on B & B with full use of the Hotel Facilities to the lucky person who wins.

The Competition is….
This past winter my ladies were out on a staff activity.  They visited a lot of historic and cultural places on the beautiful island of Gozo.  I have chosen 8 places which I would like our friends to tell us the names and where these place actually are.  Every week 2 photos will be posted here on the blog with a very small hint to help.  Who ever is lucky to give us all the correct places by the end of week 4, they will be put in a draw and the video of the name draw will be posted on my face book page.  GOOD LUCK !!!!

This Weeks photos are:

1: Part of the 1661 Defense all around the Shoreline built by a great Grand Master.

2: Legend says the Saint came out of the painting & re entered leaving a mark on the rock.

Who’s behind this Romantic Day, Valentine’s Day?

Valentine’s Day started in the time of the Roman Empire.

In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honour Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia.

The lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate. However, one of the customs of the young people was name drawing. On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl’s name from the jar and would then be partners for the duration of the festival with the girl whom he chose. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry.

Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns. Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. The good Saint Valentine was a priest at Rome in the days of Claudius II. He and Saint Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, and for this kind deed Saint Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February, about the year 270. At that time it was the custom in Rome, a very ancient custom, indeed, to celebrate in the month of February the Lupercalia, feasts in honour of a heathen god. On these occasions, amidst a variety of pagan ceremonies, the names of young women were placed in a box, from which they were drawn by the men as chance directed.

The pastors of the early Christian Church in Rome endeavoured to do away with the pagan element in these feasts by substituting the names of saints for those of maidens. And as the Lupercalia began about the middle of February, the pastors appear to have chosen Saint Valentine’s Day for the celebration of this new feaSt. So it seems that the custom of young men choosing maidens for valentines, or saints as patrons for the coming year, arose in this way.

Christmas in Gozo

Christmas is a very important celebration in Malta and Gozo. However, even here the material side of things is undeniable.  Balancing the shopping mall crowd madness, is a beautiful initiative by one village, Ghajnsielem, where for these past years have a nativity village been brought to life by countless volunteers. Bethlehem f’Ghajnsielem

Christmas time is becoming increasingly attractive. For centuries people have built cribs in their homes and bagpipers went through the streets playing traditional tunes. Endless carol singers in any event throughout the festive season, whether it is in a local church or Christmas market, or even in major shopping malls.

Now the main streets are decorated with twinkling lights and large cribs are displayed in front of churches and main squares. On the evening of christmas Eve members of the christian Doctrine Society organize a procession with a statue of Baby Jesus though the village street. All the young boys and girls of the locality take part. In most villages the procession takes the form of a pageant with participants dressed in period costumes. It is usually concluded with a christmas play.

The Towers of Gozo

Did you know?….”The story about the Towers in Gozo?”

After the 1551 Siege on Gozo, when around 6,000 Gozitans were taken into slavery by the Ottomans, the Knights of St. John concluded that the island of Gozo needed a better defense system. So they started an extensive coastal-guard defense network and some of them are still there! One of my favorite is the Xlendi Tower because it is the oldest free standing coastal watchtower in Gozo. It was built during the reign of the Grand Master Lascaris in 1650. Main purpose of this tower was to deny entrance and use of Xlendi Bay to smugglers, pirates and evaders of quarantine. The tower is 35 feet square and rises to a height of 30 courses. It has an architecturally unique adjunct platform jutting out seawards. The tower was armed by two 6-pounder iron guns that were later replaced with two 4-pounder guns. The tower had its own Capo Mastro (Detachment Commander), a Bombardier, who in turn had his own Aggiuntante.  There were as well three armed guards every night throughout the year! From the rising cliffs of Ras il-Bajda, the guard on duty had an extensive view of the south-western approaches to Gozo and the entrance to the Comino Channel.  The Xlendi Tower continued to serve its guard duties as late as 1871.

Really impressive what the Knights of St. John did, and there is more to tell….next time I will tell you something about the Tower at Dwejra as this one is very close to the Kempinski Hotel San Lawerenz, where I live….and I took the ladies of the Sales team there, well actually Deryk made them go to this place. It was part of the Jeep Hunt which he organized for the entire staff of the hotel. I can tell you, this was really fun.

Did you know….the Maltese Cross?

Lately I have received a lot of questions about the famous Maltese Cross and I thought it is about time I tell you a bit about it. It has a long long history but before we come back in time…..let me tell you some basic information, let’s start with the definition of our cross:

The definition of a Maltese Cross is one which conforms to a strict definition (“a cross of made from four straight lined pointed arrowheads, meeting at their points, with the ends of the arms consisting of indented ‘v’s”) is without doubt a Christian symbol. However before examining the use of the cross described as “Maltese”, the meaning of the cross needs to be considered.

…now listen to this:
The cross is a symbol adopted to remind Christians of our Lord’s saving death – and with an empty cross his resurrection! Otherwise it is a quite neutral symbol, often in its form of equal sized arms, used in art due to the symmetry of design. Even as used by Christians, Christian artists have been inspired to produce many variations on the theme. Christian countries used the cross as the main symbol of decorations awarded to those who served the nation.
The Maltese cross, used as an identifying insignia on the habit of the Knights of Malta, was for the purpose of identifying themselves from their enemies. The Knights of Malta, also known as the Knights of St. John or the “hospitialers” was a religious order founded by Amalfitian merchants around the year 1070. The purpose of the order was to aid and care for pilgrims making the journey to the Holy Land. In 1136 the knights became a fully militarized order. The Knights driven out of Syria had been fleeing years of persecution by Islamic forces acquired Malta as their Sovereign Land from Charles V of Spain in 1530. This is the time that the Maltese Cross evolved into the present day form. The cross is described as a white eight pointed cross.
The eight points of the cross are believed to represent the eight vows the knights had to observe:
1) live in truth
2) have faith
3) repent of sins
4) give proof of humility
5) love justice
6) be merciful
7) be sincere and whole hearted
8 ) endure persecution.
Although many countries and organizations throughout the world use crosses that are similar if not exact in shape to the Maltese Cross, the fact remains that the Maltese Cross has its own specific purpose and should not be confused with other decorations or medals that have their own purpose.

……this is just the beginning of our little excursions back in time…..soon I will tell you more.