10/8/24: Malta's Victoria Lines, Egg Church, & Grand Gozo!

The island of Malta is so small that it was just a ten-minute drive from the adjoining towns of Rabat and Mdina to the Marfa Peninsula in northwest Malta! 

Steven and I had come to the Marfa Peninsula to explore some of the region's sights before taking the ferry to the neighboring island of Gozo for a couple of days. One sight that appeared intriguing was the 12-km-long Victoria Lines, fortifications built by the British and named after Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. Though they were intended to safeguard the island from any invaders landing on the northern beaches, they never saw any military action. The long wall reminded us of Hadrian's Wall in northern England.

The Lines wound their way around the hills like a snake as far as we could see.

It was a welcome surprise to spot nearby more of the ancient cart ruts, or whatever they might have been according to scholars, that we had seen previously, further east on the island. 

Barely a stone's throw away, atop a small valley, was the Chapel of Our Lady of Itria, dedicated to The Lady of the Way and built between 1671 and 1673. In the background, in the village of Mġarr, was the Parish Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven, commonly known as the "Egg Church!" 

Five minutes away, the Egg Church received its unusual nickname because of its unique egg-shaped dome, one of the largest of its kind, and because the church’s construction was funded by the local parishioners, who raised money mostly by selling eggs! It was built between 1933 and 1946, with construction halted briefly during the war. The church was nearly destroyed in 1942 when a bomb fell through the dome without exploding, miraculously causing no injuries or damage. 

Unfortunately, both churches were closed.

No apparent discrimination in Malta, as the bathroom in the village was open for all!

Again, just minutes away was the picturesque town of Mellieha, perched atop a ridge between St. Paul's Bay and Mellieha Bay. The town had the most stringent anti-littering laws we remembered encountering.

Until we saw the truck in the main square, we had no idea there was such a thing as Maltese wine!

The Church of Our Lady of Victory stood prominently overlooking Mellieha Bay. It was attached to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Mellieha, which pilgrims have sought out since medieval times. Some believe St. Paul himself blessed it when he was shipwrecked on Malta. 

The Mellieha Air-Raid Shelters, located next to the church, were dug out by hand to shelter the town's population from bombs during World War II. 

Remember that you can click on any photo to make it bigger. It's worth doing so for this one, so you can read about the George Cross awarded to the people of Malta for their heroism and devotion by King George in 1942.

It was stirring reading Winston Churchill's words that the Navy would never abandon the tiny island(s) of Malta. 

Look at minuscule Malta surrounded on all fronts by the Axis nations in 1942. After suffering its first air raid in June 1940, there were over 3,300 alerts in the next two-and-a-half years, with over 17,000 tons of bombs dropped. It was appalling to learn that with a population of about a quarter of a million when the war started, one in 70 people either suffered a serious or slight casualty, and one in 235 people a fatal casualty. 

That was the highest civilian casualty percentage in the world. Without the air-aid shelters, the Axis "blitz on Malta would have been a wholesale massacre." In addition to the civilian fatalities and serious injuries, more than 30,000 buildings were damaged or destroyed. 

The rooms or cubicles measured about 1.8m by 2.1m, and each person was allotted just .6 square meters of space - about 6 square feet. The corridors were approximately 2m high and wide, and the tunnel was about 500 meters long and had a depth of 6 meters. 

Two cubicles were set aside as a maternity hospital and clinic in the shelter as the war progressed.

An adult male was rationed to only about 1,400 calories per day, compared to when 3,000 calories were normally needed. Even anti-aircraft guns were limited to about 10 rounds a day during the war's height in 1942. 

The complex, one of the largest underground shelters in the country, also included anti-blast chambers, private rooms to accommodate entire families, and a guarded room to protect national treasures. 

It was a harrowing experience to visit the shelter, but important in my mind as a vivid reminder of the horrors of war. 

Across from the church, a flight of steps led down to the Grotto of the Madonna, a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It was located in a cave lit by flickering candles beside a spring whose waters were believed to heal sick children.

Mellieha Bay's soft white sand and shallow waters make it perfect for those wanting to enjoy watersports amid the northeasterly breezes.

At the edge of the Marfa Peninsula was the chess-piece-like Red Tower, built in 1649 for Grand Master Lascaris. It was part of a chain of eight signal towers linking Malta's capital of Valletta with the neighboring island of Gozo. It was also known as St. Agatha's, after the widely revered Sicilian-born Christian martyr who sought refuge in Malta before being put to death by an admirer whose advances she rejected. 

While visiting the tower, we spotted the first reference to the Maltese Cross, the renowned eight-pointed cross that was the universally accepted sign of brotherhood of the hospital of St. John and now the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. The cross was introduced to Malta by the knights when they took possession of the islands in 1530. The cross developed from the Amalfi cross and other forms of an eight-pointed cross used until the mid-16th century. 

The eight points may symbolize the eight beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount, the knights' eight obligations or aspirations, the eight Langues or 'tongues' from where the knights hailed, etc.

The views over the bay and countryside were stunning from the tower.

We enjoyed more spectacular views as we drove the length of the peninsula, which curved in and out among several bays. 

At one end was the Paradise Bay Resort above; at the opposite tip, but just seven minutes away, was Dahlet ix-Xilep, a Madonna statue in a small white chapel dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. Its altar was enclosed by an iron chancel. Surprisingly, the deserted chapel was open day and night. 

Back along the narrow road toward the Red Tower and to the ferry terminal to Gozo. Lady Luck was with us again as we arrived just moments before it left from Cirkewwa, even though we had no idea of the Gozo Channel ferry schedule!

Full steam ahead was the small island of Gozo, called Ghawdex in Malti. It has a wealth of attractions, including megalithic temples, a towering fortress, the beautiful city of Victoria, and a church whose dome is larger than St. Paul’s in London! Although Gozo is more than a third larger than Malta, it has less than one-tenth its population - only about 35,000 Gozitans live here.

The lovely Mgarr Harbor on Gozo: 

Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel was almost hanging over the village of Mgarr, with breathtaking views of the harbor and the Gozo Channel.

The village of Xewkija and most of southern Gozo were dominated by the immense dome of the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist, better known as the Rotunda. Constructed around a 17th-century church that no longer met the community's needs, it now can accommodate three times the village's population, one of the oldest in Gozo! It was built mainly by parishioners known for their building skills and craftsmanship in Maltese stone. It took twenty years to complete, as it was paid for with local donations as money became available. This is the biggest church in Gozo and boasts the third-largest unsupported dome in the world.

We were again fortunate that the monumental church was open, but oddly, we were the only ones there. The enormous circular structure had eight concrete columns covered with stone to support the 75-meter-high, elegant dome, whose weight was estimated at around 45,000 tons. Paintings of the life of St. John adorned six side chapels.

The famous wooden statue of St. John the Baptist was carved in 1845 by a Maltese artist. 

The octagonal collection box caught my interest as it had slots for  specific countries and/or regions and one for 'other countries.' I think you can guess where I placed my donation!

From the tiny coastal hamlet of Mgarr ix-Xini, we looked back toward the Rotunda, above, and the island of Malta across the channel, below.

The community was 'invaded' by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie when they used it as a location for their film By the Sea in 2014.

The small harbor was guarded by a watchtower built by the knights in the 17th century. 

Victoria, the island's chief town and capital, was crowned by Il-Kastell, the 15th-century citadel also known locally as the Cittadella. Fortifications atop the hill have existed since the Bronze Age. The Phoenicians developed it and later made it a Roman town. After terrible raids by the Turks, it became customary for the island's families to stay in the citadel overnight until the 17th century. 

Within Il-Kastell was the Cathedral of the Assumption, built in the late 17th century.

At the base of the stone steps leading to the cathedral was a mysterious man-made row of roundish and rectangular stones set in an almost circular position. It wasn't discovered until 2014. Because of its location, scholars haven't been able to link it to another structure or date it.

The dome was never completed because of a lack of funding. However, a dome does exist, if you consider that what would have been the dome's space was taken up by a painting attached to the flat ceiling, a trompe l'oeil, that created the illusion of a cupola! I was certainly initially fooled by the convincing impression of space and grandeur.

After oohing and aahing over the cathedral's attractions, there was more oohing and aahing as we strolled along the citadel's walls!

Just as we'd learned in the walled city of Mdina the day before, the remains of a medieval Jewish Quarter were evident in Il-Kastell. Jews paid a special tax, but in return, they received a monopoly as druggists and dyers. 

We had outstanding views of the cathedral, over Gozo, and towards the sea from the city walls.

Next post: Xerri's Grottos, Marsalforn's Salt Pans, and more!

Posted on March 30th, 2025, from rain-soaked Denver after spending several hours with our younger son's girlfriend's delightful family for the first time! Please make sure to take care of yourself and your loved ones.