There’s more to Victoria than meets the eye. It is not just about It-Tokk, the Ċittadella and, at present, the chaos caused by road works.
The inhabitants make this great city what it is today
Victoria is a place where even the city stones have a story to tell.
However, people have always been the soul of Victoria, both those who have inhabited it through the centuries as well as those who just visit but are still interested in its history.
All this is now being captured in a new publication, Victoria, A Portrait of a City, which is being launched tonight at the Vajrinġa public library.
The book was commissioned by the local council to mark the 125th anniversary of the conferment of the title of “city” on the Citadel and its suburb Rabat.
It was in fact 125 years ago that Pietro Pace, then Bishop of Gozo, and Adriano Dingli, then Crown Counsel and later on president of the Court of Appeal, sent a petition to Queen Victoria to declare the Ċittadella, the old city, together with Rabat, its suburb, a city and rename it Victoria. This act was worthy of the city’s rich cultural heritage and human presence dating back 5,000 years.
Victoria is a self-made city and has been the centre of the island throughout the ages. It was built by its own inhabitants and has always been the island’s cultural and commercial hub. Many of the local people have contributed in no small measure to the national scene. The feasts of St George and the Assumption of Our Lady are the most popular on the island.
The city also boasts two old musical societies, Il Leone and La Stella, and two opera houses, in which tenors of world renown have performed.
The city is further enlivened by the various cultural activities that dot the cultural calendar throughout the year.
However, as mayor Samwel Azzopardi writes in the book, “Undoubtedly, it is the inhabitants that make this great city what it is. They have resisted all attempts made by different rulers to shift the city somewhere else; the most notable place Fort Chambrai. Its citizens may be divided on parochial lines and other issues such as sports, but like warring brothers and sisters who will defend their family till the end, they will challenge anyone who attempts to undermine the city’s status on the island or elsewhere”.
The book, with its 256 pages and 500 photographs, vividly describes the story of the city and its people from the first human settlement in the Neolithic Period till the present times.
Victoria, A Portrait of a City was entrusted in the hands of three sons of Victoria. It is edited by Charles Cini SDB, written by Joseph Bezzina with photography and design by Daniel Cilia.
An edition of the book, printed by the Salesians of Don Bosco, was also done in Italian, called Victoria, Ritratto di una Città.