Guided tours of windmill

As part of the European heritage days coordinated by the Superintendence of Culture, Heritage Malta will be organising a number of activities centred around the Ta' Kola Windmill, in Xaghra, given that this year's theme is windmills as lost marks in cultural landscape.

A guided tour of the Ta' Kola Windmill will be held every day at 1 p.m. between Sunday and October 24.

On October 22, Joe Attard Tabone will be delivering a lecture entitled Windmills in the Maltese Islands. The lecture, which starts at 6 p.m. will be given at the windmill. Admission is free.

In conjunction with the activity, Heritage Malta will also be organising a number of activities targeting primary school children of the Xaghra government school in conjunction with the Xaghra local council.

Children will be encouraged to participate in essay writing, photography and drawing with the Ta' Kola Windmill as the main theme.

A selected number of drawings will be displayed at the windmill between October 22-31.

The Ta' Kola Windmill is a magnificent structure standing in the heart of the quaint village of Xaghra. Originally built in 1725 during the magistracy of Grandmaster De Vilhena, the windmill underwent extensive restoration several times before being rebuilt in 1787 on the order of Baron Francesco Gauci on behalf of the Manoel Foundation.

In the early 20th century, the windmill came into the ownership of the Grech family. In 1987, Guzeppi Kola died and the windmill was acquired by the state. It was eventually refurbished into a museum in 1992.

Apart from an array of tools used by the owners of the windmill, visitors to the windmill can get an idea of what the living quarters were like as the first floor has been recreated using traditional furniture and items related to Gozitan crafts, such as weaving and lace making.