Victoria ( mt, Il-Belt Victoria, meaning "the city Victoria"), also known among the native Maltese as Rabat (which is the name of the old town centre) or by its title Città Victoria, is an

administrative unit Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, the largest and most prominent city of

Gozo Gozo (, ), Maltese: ''Għawdex'' () and in antiquity known as Gaulos ( xpu, 𐤂𐤅𐤋, ; grc, Γαῦλος, Gaúlos), is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After t ...

,. Victoria has a total population of 6,901 (as of March 2014), and by population, is the largest locality in

. The area around the town, situated on a hill near the centre of the island, has been settled since

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

times. Victoria is the name given on 10 June 1887 by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

government on the occasion of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...

, at the request of Pietro Monsignor Pace, Bishop of Gozo (

Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

Pace later became Sir Pietro Monsignor Pace,

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the So ...

and

Bishop of Malta The Archdiocese of Malta (Malti: ''Arċidjoċesi ta' Malta'') is a metropolitan archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in Malta. History Tradition claims that St. Paul the Apostle established the diocese of Malta in the year 60 A ...

). However, many Gozitans, mainly older Gozitans, still often refer to it by the name Rabat. It is usually known as Rabat, Gozo to distinguish it from the town of

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ar, الرِّبَاط, er-Ribât; ber, ⵕⵕⴱⴰⵟ, ṛṛbaṭ) is the capital city of Morocco and the country's seventh largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan populati ...

on the main island of Malta. NZ_Grog_Shop_Rabato_Gozo_c1916

Architectural heritage

*The

Cittadella Cittadella ( vec, Sitadeła) is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is in circumference with a diameter of around ...

, including: **

Gozo Museum of Archaeology The Gozo Museum of Archaeology ( mt, Il-Mużew tal-Arkeoloġija ta' Għawdex) is a museum in the Cittadella of Victoria in Gozo, Malta. The museum of Archaeology was opened in 1960 as the first public museum in Gozo and was known as the Gozo Museu ...

** Gran Castello Historic House (Folklore Museum) **

Natural Science Museum The Gozo Nature Museum, formerly known as the Natural Science Museum, is a museum in Victoria, on the island of Gozo, Malta. It has been open to public since 1991. It is housed in a group of houses within the Cittadella, the oldest part of the cit ...

Old Prison The Old Prison is located in the Citadel of Victoria, Gozo, adjacent to the Courts of Justice to which it was originally connected. Today, the prison complex is divided into two different buildings: the entrance hall, which had been a common cell i ...

* St George's Basilica (St George's Square)
Heart of Gozo: Il-Hagar Museum
(St George's Square) *War Memorial (Independence Square) * Banca Giuratale (Independence Square) * St Francis' Church (St Francis Square) *War shelter under the Cittadella (

) *War Shelter under Triq id-Dejqa (Narrow Street) *War Shelter under St Augustine's Square ( St Augustine's Convent) ;Churches in Victoria *St Mary's Cathedral * St. George's Basilica, Malta * St Francis Conventual Church (Franciscan Friars) * St James the Greater Church * Nativity of Mary Church (Savina) * St Augustine Church (Augustinian Friars) *St John Bosco Oratory Church *St Martha's Church * Annunciation Church *Cana Movement Church *Good Shepherd Church *Manresa Church (Jesuits) *Our Lady of Grace Church (Capuchin Friars) *Our Lady Help of Christians Church (Salesian Nuns) *Immaculate Heart of Mary Church (Franciscan Nuns) * Our Lady of Pompei Church (Dominican Nuns) *St Barbara's Church (Citadel) * St Joseph's Church (Citadel) *Immaculate Conception Church (Seminary) *Nazareth Chapel (Poor Clares) Savina church gozo

Cittadella

In the heart of Victoria lies the Cittadella (Citadel), formerly known as ''il Castello'', which has been the centre of activity of the island since possibly

times, but is known to be first fortified during the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

c. 1500 BC. It was later developed by the

Phoenicians Phoenicia () was an ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient thalassocracy, thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-st ...

and continued into becoming a complex

Acropolis An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...

Roman times In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

. The north side of the Citadel dates back to the Aragonese domination period. The south flank, overlooking Victoria, was re-constructed under the

Knights of St. John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

, namely between 1599 and 1603, after Ottomans invaded the city in 1551. 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 The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

Cathedral designed by

Lorenzo Gafà Lorenzo Gafà (1639–1703) was a Maltese Baroque architect and sculptor. He designed many churches in the Maltese Islands, including St. Paul's Cathedral in Mdina and the Cathedral of the Assumption in Victoria, Gozo. He was the younger bro ...

, the Maltese architect who also built the Cathedral of

Mdina Mdina ( mt, L-Imdina ; phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤈, Maleṭ; grc, Μελίττη, Melite (ancient city), Melíttē; ar, مدينة, Madīnah; ), also known by its Italian-language titles ("Old City") and ("Notable City"), is a fortifications of Mdin ...

. It is said that it lies on the site where a Roman temple dedicated to

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

once stood. It is most famous for the remarkable ''

trompe-l'œil ''Trompe-l'œil'' ( , ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. ''Trompe l'oeil'', which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into ...

'' painting on its ceiling, which depicts the interior of a dome that was never built. File:Cathedral St Marija interior Victoria Gozo Malta 2014 1.jpg, The interior of the Cathedral of Assumption inside the citadel in Victoria. File:GozoCathedral.JPG, The exterior of the Cathedral of Assumption.

St George's Parish

St. George's Basilica, Malta, 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 A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

dedicated to

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

has the status of a

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...

. 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 Mattia Preti (24 February 1613 – 3 January 1699) was an Italian Baroque artist who worked in Italy and Malta. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Saint John. Life Born in the small town of Taverna in Calabria, Preti was called ''Il Cava ...

, Giuseppe d'Arena, Stefano Erardi, Alessio Erardi, Francesco V. Zahra,

Giuseppe Calì Giuseppe Calì (14 August 1846 – 1 March 1930) was a Maltese painter of Italian descent. Biography Born in Valletta, Calì was baptised at the Dominican Parish Church of Porto Salvo, one of the seven offsprings of the artist and musici ...

, 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. 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

's patron saint are held. In February 2013, the Basilica opened the doors to its new modern museum, one of a kind in the country. It is the first building built for the purpose of a museum. The Museum and cultural centre, named a
Heart of Gozo: Il-Hagar
displays a rich collection of historical and artistic artefacts previously inaccessible to the general public. The museum is found on the left side of the Basilica. File:Sudika San Gorg Rabat-2.jpg, Saint George's Basilica. Image:Victoria - Chiesa di San Giorgio interno.jpg, Interior of St George's Basilica

Villa Rundle Gardens

These gardens are situated between Republic Street and the Main Car Park in Victoria. One can see in these gardens a bronze bust of the Gozitan 18th-century historian and grammarian Can.

Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis Canon Giovanni Pietro Francesco Agius de Soldanis ( mt, Ġan Piet Franġisk Agius de Soldanis, 30 October 1712 – 30 January 1770), often called de Soldanis ( mt, Sultana), was a Maltese linguist, historian and cleric from the island of Gozo. ...

and another of Gozo born French poet and writer Laurent Ropa. One can also find a memorial commemorating the invasion of Gozo by

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

in 1551.

Notable people from Victoria

* Censu Tabone, 4th

President of Malta The president of Malta ( mt, President ta' Malta) is the constitutional head of state of Malta. The President is indirectly elected by the House of Representatives of Malta, which appoints the president for a five-year term and requires them to ...

Gaetano Pace Forno Gaetano Pace Forno (5 June 1809 – 22 July 1874) was a Maltese Archbishop who became the Bishop of Malta after his predecessor Archbishop Publio Maria dei Conti Sant tendered his resignation. Biography Pace Forno was born in Victoria, Gozo on 5 ...

*George Pisani, Poet *

, Archpriest * Giuseppe Monsignor Pace, 7th Bishop of Gozo * Joseph Farrugia, (Archpriest Emeritus of St George's) * Joseph Monsignor Mercieca,

Archbishop of Malta The Archdiocese of Malta ( Malti: ''Arċidjoċesi ta' Malta'') is a metropolitan archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in Malta. History Tradition claims that St. Paul the Apostle established the diocese of Malta in the year 60 ...

* Sir Pietro Monsignor Pace,

and

Alfred Xuereb Alfred Xuereb (born 14 October 1958) is a Maltese prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the Apostolic Nuncio to both South Korea and Mongolia since February 2018. He previously worked in the Roman Curia and was a private secretary to Pop ...

, private secretary to

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

Mary Meilak Mary Meilak (9 August 1905 – 1 January 1975) was a Maltese people, Maltese poet. Meilak holds a unique place in the history of Maltese literature in that she is the first recorded female Maltese poet as well as the first Maltese woman to publish ...

, Poet *

Ninu Cremona Ninu "Anthony" Cremona (May 27, 1880 - January 4, 1972), colloquially known as ''Is-Sur Nin'', was a Maltese writer and health inspector. He was the best son of Feliċ and Margaret née Pace. He was born in Victoria (Rabat) Gozo. Orphaned at a ...

, Author

Zones in Victoria

*Belliegħa *Ċittadella (Citadel) *Demnija * Gelmus *Għajn Lukin *Il-Ġnien *Qasam San Ġorġ *Sellum *Ta' Ħamet *Ta' l-Ibraġ *Ta' Mliet *Ta' Wara s-Sur *Taċ-Ċawla *Taflija *Tal-Far *Tal-Grazzja *Tal-Maltija *Tal-Mejda *Villa Rundle *Wied Tal-Grazzja *Kapuccini

Victoria Main Roads

*Pjazza Fuq it-Tomba (Tomba Square) *Pjazza Indipendenza (Independence Square) *Pjazza San Frangisk (St Francis Square) *Pjazza San Gorg (St George's Square) *Pjazza Santu Wistin (St Augustine Square) *Triq Dingli (Dingli Street) *Triq Enriku Mizzi (Enrico Mizzi Street) *Triq Fortunato Mizzi (Fortunato Mizzi Street) *Triq Gedrin *Triq George Borg Olivier *Triq Għajn Qatet *Triq Ġużè Ellul Mercer (G. Ellul Mercer Street) *Triq id-Dawwara *Triq il-Kappuċċini (Capuchins' Street) *Triq il-Papa Ġwanni Pawlu II (Pope John Paul II Street) *Triq ir-Repubblika (Republic Street) *Triq it-Tabib Anton Tabone (Dr Anton Tabone Street) *Triq l-Ewropa (Europe Street) *Triq l-Imgħallem (Foreman Street) *Triq Mejlak (Mejlak Road) *Triq Monsinjur S. Lanzon (Mgr. S. Lanzon Street) *Triq Ninu Cremona (Ninu Cremona Street) *Triq Putirjal (Main Gate Street) *Triq Sant' Orsla (St Ursola Street) *Triq Ta' Kerċem (Kercem Road) *Triq Tomba (Tomba Street) *Triq Viani (Viani Street) *Triq Wara s-Sur (By the Bastion Street) *Triq Wied il-Lunzjata (Lunzjata Valley Road)i

Feasts of Victoria, Gozo

Five feasts are celebrated in Victoria, the island of

, the two main feasts are the feast of St. George and the feast of

Assumption of the Virgin Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...

. The feast dedicated to St. Mary, devoted in its Cathedral situated in the centre of the Citadel dominating the whole island is celebrated on 15 August. The other one is dedicated to

St. George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

, the patron saint of

celebrated on the 3rd Sunday of July in St George's Basilica. In Victoria, there is the feast of the Immaculate Conception in the church of St Francis this feast is celebrated on 8 December of every year by the Franciscan conventual friars. A feast of Our Lady of Divine Grace is celebrated as the last feast of the feast season by the Franciscan capuchin friars in the church dedicated to Our Lady of Divine Grace. The feast of St. John Bosco is celebrated in the Don Bosco Oratory.

Sports

Victoria is home to three

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

clubs, S.K. Victoria Wanderers,

Victoria Hotspurs Victoria Hotspurs Football Club is a Maltese football club from the town of Victoria, Gozo. Founded in 1948, the club has won a record of 13 First Division titles, the last one being in the 2018–19 season. The Club is popularly known by th ...

and Oratory Youths.

Twin towns – sister cities

Victoria is twinned with: * Nichelino, Italy

References

External links

Ministry of Gozo - VictoriaVictoria Local CouncilGozo Culture & Information OfficeSt George's Basilica MuseumLehen il-Belt Victoria RadioDon Bosco OratoryFestival MediterraneaGozo CathedralLeone Philharmonic Society AD 1863La Stella Philharmonic Society AD 1863St George's Basilica
{{Authority control Local councils of Malta Gozo