My wife, Romina and I like to visit the sister island of Gozo every month with the aim of relaxing and walking as much as possible.
...there are so many other sites that have yet not been explored and Gozo has much more to offer
This time, however, we decided to discover the less known prehistoric remains in Gozo. We started from Marżiena Temple as we wanted to visit some people at Manresa Retreat House in Munxar. After taking a hot cup of coffee with some friends there, we turned left into Windmill Street.
When we arrived in front of a windmill, we asked a local the indications to Marżiena temples. He greeted us with a long laugh and to our surprise he said “Dawk il-ftit ġebliet li sab miġnun Ġermaniż”!
After telling him that we were still interested in having a look, he lethargically led us to a narrow footpath just opposite the windmill. Many megalithic blocks are partly hidden by carob and prickly pear trees, but the alignments of the megaliths suggest shapes of apses of a temple.
We then proceeded to visit the Sta Verna Temple. We drove to the main square of Xagħra, then entered the road on the left opposite the church until we arrived to Triq Sta Verna, corner with Triq Sant’ Anton.
There are only a few megaliths but horizontal blocks may represent an altar, while a hole with a depression in one of them was interpreted to be a container for holy water by the farmer tilling the adjacent field. He told us that when he was a boy he found many skulls and pieces of pottery in the fields nearby.
After leaving the Sta Verna site, we headed towards the road opposite the Ġgantija temples and there we studied an informative billboard indicating other interesting sites.
Just behind this billboard are tombs cut into the rocks, as well as a prehistoric cave called Ta’ Għejżu which yielded pottery shreds of the Ġgantija phase (circa 3500BC). The nearby megaliths may have formed part of a temple.
A few metres down the main road is Triq Tal-Qaċċa, in which there is a path leading to the Xagħra Circle, but a notice at the entrance of a gate surrounding the whole site tells the prospective visitor that entrance is by prior appointment from the Ġgantija office.
The Xagħra Circle is also known as the Brochtorff’s Circle after the surname of the person who painted them. Unfortunately today we only see scanty remains of a large stone circle. Pottery found in these tombs can be found in the Archaeology Museum.
After eating something good, we proceeded to Ta’ Ċenċ but while leaving Xagħra we observed from a distance the Nuffara Hill where Borġ in-Nadur phase (1500-700BC) pottery was found. Rock-cut, bell-shaped pits were also recorded on this flat-topped hill and these could have been used for the storage of grain.
Before walking past the Ta’ Ċenċ Hotel we were welcomed by a sign reading Mramma Temple. Signs indicating minor prehistoric sites are the exception and not the rule in Gozo.
After walking for two hours all we identified was a dolmen. Fortunately it was pleasant weather and we enjoyed the fresh air and biodiversity of plants and flowers, not to mention the beautiful sheer cliffs.
On our way to the Gozo ferry we decided to visit Qala and hunt for the Ħaġra l-Wieqfa (the Standing Stone). This is the most ancient attraction of the village and is probably the only surviving element of a megalithic structure of the Temple period (4100-2500BC).
We left the island discussing various points which could hopefully serve as constructive criticism to the authorities. There are no road signs leading the visitor to these archaeological sites, except the Xagħra billboard, The presence of a small description with a sketch of the site would be definitely helpful. Sites should be made more accessible with clearly defined footpaths.
On another visit to Gozo, while walking past San Dimitri chapel looking for Wied il-Għasri, my wife and I observed an intriguing circle of standing stones.
It is obvious that there are so many other sites that have yet not been explored and Gozo has much more to offer, so good luck to all our budding archaeologists.