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| About Xaghra, Gozo One of the most picturesque villages on the island of Gozo is undoubtedly Xaghra. Situated on the north east of the capital city of Victoria, on a stretch of high ground, this village has a  population of about 4200 inhabitants. It is surrounded by the beautiful bays of Ramla, Ghajn Barrani and Marsalforn to the north and north-east while to the west and south lie the valleys of Ramla, Ta’ l-Ghejjun and Marsalforn and to the south spreads a plain of fertile land called Ta’ Hamet. The table-land on which the town stands is composed of various slopes, as well as of valleys which are green all the year round, among them one finds the Eghzien Valley and Ghajn Xejba Valley, which lead into Marsalforn  Valley, fruitful areas which are the source of the best agricultural products and grapes of the highest quality. Xaghra is certainly one of the spots in Gozo where there has been human habitation since extremely early times. Here one can find the Neolithic temples of Santa Verna, Ggantija, Ghejzu Cave, the Brockdorff or Stone Circle and Sansuna, in addition to others no less well known. The two Ggantija temples are acknowledged to be the oldest free-standing structures in the world. |
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 On that edge of the
village which overlooks Ramla Bay, one can find a cave which, according to legend, was the home of the nymph Calypso fame in Greek mythology. Yet other caves are renowned for the fantastic shapes of the stalagmites and stalactites found in them, formed over vast periods of time by the slow filtration of rain-water through the limestone which composes the table-land. The latter are called Xerri’s Grotto and Ninu’s Cave. All these features render Xaghra a unique place in Gozo. Xaghra was established as an independent parish on 28th April 1688 by Bishop Davide Cocco Palmieri and the first parish church was a small chapel dedicated to St. Anthony the Abbot, still standing today. The larger, present-day parish church is consecrated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and dates back from the first years of the nineteenth century. Xaghra’s coat-of-arms was traditionally a shield on a sky-blue background with a tree and a game-bird on it seen against a green table-land. It has now been re-designed as a shield on a red background with part of a historical monolithical temple shown in gold, a motive taken from a room in one of the Ggantija Temples in Xaghra. |
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Ggantija Temples This complex of prehistorical structures consists of two temples, one larger than the other and dating from 3600 years before Christ. Each contains five rooms, one central room and two lateral chambers on both sides. In the larger temple one notices that the first two chambers are smaller than the ones behind them, while in the smaller temple the first two chambers are larger than the inner ones. Both buildings are constructed from extremely hard stones of immense size.  It appears from findings of bones dug up from under the altars and from evidence of burning, that this place was truly a sanctuary where people made sacrifices and offered burnt offerings to their gods. At the entrance to the temple one can notice a basin which was used for the ritual of foot-ablution as an act of purification before entering the holy of holies. Upon contemplating these buildings, one can only marvel at what these ancient people were capable of achieving to honour their unknown gods, without the aids of modern, mechanical tools.
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The Stone Circle A few metres away from Ggantija is the site known as the Brockdorff Circle. Excavations carried out by Maltese and foreign archaeologists have revealed, carved into the rock, megalith tombs two metres in height and one metre in width, dating from about four thousand years before Christ. These tombs throw light on the rites and ceremonies of the time, in particular burial customs. In addition to many loose bones and two almost perfectly preserved skulls, the graves have yielded up a large number of little figurines which are unique to the pre-history of Malta. These mysterious finds, which scholars are still at present investigating, will surely give new insights into stone-age Malta. Here one can also find the remains of another megalithic temple called Ta’ Ghejzu. The Xaghra Windmill  Before the Knights of St. John arrived in Malta in 1530, grinding of wheat was used by either man or animal. The knights ordered the building of the windmills, in areas where there was a certain number of population and were built on high ridges and one of them was the Xaghra windmill. The first windmill of Xaghra was built in 1725. It had a quarter for the family in a cistern for storage of water and attached to it there was a bakery. Forty years later an inspection was carried out at the windmill and it was decided that the whole edifice was to be dismantled due to bad quality and the use of mortar in its construction. The second and present windmill was built on 5th September 1786. It has been built for the last 210 years and it is the only windmill which has its own mechanical fittings of its origin and it can be used any time. This is due to the last tenant who took prestigious care according to the conditions of the lease which was granted to him by the Order. Intensive restoration was carried out on the Windmill after a petition which was presented to the authorities by the "Moviment Civiku Xaghra" . In the early 90’s it was restored to its splendour and today it is an attraction to hundreds of tourists which visit Xaghra all year round. |
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 Ramla l-Hamra The Maltese Islands are mostly popular for their beaches. One of them and the most popular is the Ramla l-Hamra, the only unspoiled beach of all the Maltese and Gozitan beaches. It has been left virgin as our mother nature created it. Bounded by the east of Xaghra and west by the village of Nadur, it is the widest and most sandy beach in the Maltese Islands. It can be reached either through Xaghra or Nadur. A green valley known as the Ramla Valley separates both villages. As one can imagine there are no historical places on the beach. In fact in Ramla one can find historical and archeological sites on the sand. Near the Xaghra side a number of steps built by the Romans (who conquered the Maltese Islands between 218 and 535 A.D.) can be identified. These lead to the Roman Villa also at Xaghra side which is underneath the sand. Actually the Roman Villa was excavated to its original state by the first Maltese archeologist Profs. Temi Zammit early in the 20th century. There are also remains of the period of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem (1530 - 1798). The Knights built a wall (defense wall) from one end to the other on the beach, so that other gulleys of their foreigners, especially sea-pirates while approaching to disembark on the beach, would shipwreck on the wall. They also built a defense wall from one end to the other but this time on the sand so that the knights would defend themselves from behind the wall. From the Xaghra side one can view ruins of a battery built by the knights known as Belancourt Battery. We do hope that this sandy beach remains as the Greek Nymph saw it the first time when, according to the legend, she lived there. From this beach, one can see a panoramic view of the beach, the villages of Nadur and Xaghra and the countryside which surrounds them. |
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