Victoria

Victoria is the capital town of the island of Gozo. The name Victoria, locally known as Rabat, was given to the medieval town of Gozo in 1887 in honour of the famous British Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations. At the same instance, the town was also raised to the status of a city; then officially known as Citta' Victoria.
The town of Victoria embraces both the Citadel, the ancient city of the Island, as well as Rabat, the old suburb of the Citadel. Rabat in Arabic and Archaic Maltese stands for suburb and this name was first documented as Rabbatum in a notorial deed drawn by Andrea de Beniamin on 22nd February 1455. Its motto is A magna maxima (From great supreme). The coat-of-arms has an azure background and portrays a shield with three hills and the letters VR (which stand for Victoria Regina) on top of the shield. There are many places of historical and cultural interest in Victoria and a visit to the Citadel is considered a must. From these fortifications one can enjoy a superb view of the whole Island. Also within the Citadel there is the Gozo Cathedral and the Law Courts, as well as the Cathedral Museum, the Gozo Museum of Archaeology, the Folklore Museum,theCitadel Armoury,the Folklore Museum,the Old Prison, and the Natural Science Museum.

The centre of the capital city of Gozo is Pjazza Indipendenza, known as it-Tokk. The square is dominated by the Banca Giuratale, built between 1733 and 1738, formerly the seat of the municipal government of Gozo and presently of the Victoria Local Council. In the mornings, there is an open market that shares the square with several open air cafes. The magnificent St.George's Basilica is located in the centre of the old town, just off the open air market in Pjazza Indipendenza. The cobweb of narrow streets around St. George's Basilica are the oldest in town and are worth a walkaround.

In Triq ir-Repubblika (Republic Street), Victoria's main street, there are all kinds of shops, a couple of shopping arcades, pharmacies, banks, the Police Headquarters, the Bishop's Chancery, as well as La Stella and Leone Band Clubs who own the Astra and Aurora opera theatres respectively. In lower Republic Street, one also finds Villa Rundle Public Gardens which were laid out by the British in 1910. These gardens, with a variety of local and imported trees and a fountain, are an oasis of peace in the hustle and bustle of the busy town.

Close to the crossroads is Victoria's main parking area and the Bus Terminus. Other smaller parking areas are in St George's Square, Savina Square, St Francis Square and St Augustine Square.

Useful Information

How to go: From Mgarr harbour, Bus no. 25
Interesting Features:
1. The Citadel, the Cathedral dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady and adjacent Museums
2. The old part of the town around St. George's Basilica, Main Square, the Market and the Townhall known as Banca Guiratale
3. Rundle Garden

• Visitors are kindly asked to make sure and display the proper parking clock dial when parking their vehicles in Time Restriced Parking Zones. These clock dials are available from the Gozo Ferry or from the Victoria Local Council Office in Idependence Square.

Festa of Santa Marija

The feast of Santa Marija is celebrated in Victoria every 15th August. The feast day is a National Public Holiday and has deeply rooted ties with our folklore and history.
This festa is organised by the Cathedral Parish in Victoria. The present Cathedral church is at least the third to occupy the site. Any Byzantine church must have perished during the Arab rule (870-1127) while a church within the citadel functioning as a parish church is attested to in a will made in 1299 by the then Vice-Count of Malta Guillelmus di Malta. This will was drawn within the Gozo Citadel.
By 1435, the Citadel's major church had become a Matrice or Mother Church of the Gozitan churches. Gozo was not an independent diocese in itself and therefore had no bishop before 1864 .
The ecclesiastical authorities began harbouring plans for the building of a new church in the last quarter of the seventeenth century and the foundation stone of the present Cathedral was laid on 21 September 1697 by the Archpriest Nicholas Natale Cassia-Magri. The church is built on a Latin cross basis with a facade resembling that of Vignola's Chiesa del Gesu' in Rome. It was superbly designed by the famous Maltese architect Lorenzo Gafa (1630- 1704).
The main altar piece of the Cathedral shows the Assumption of Our Lady and was painted by Mikiel Busuttil in 1791. A 1739 painting on the interior of the temple gives a virtual impression of a dome when in reality the roof of the building is flat. This painting is a masterpiece in the art of perspective and at a glance could easily trick uninformed visitors that the Cathedral has a dome!
The church was officially consecrated on the eve of the Assumption, 14 August 1711. On 16 September 1864, Pope Pius IX established the Diocese of Gozo and Comino and the Matrice was declared the Cathedral of the new diocese.
The statue of St Mary was made by the Fabbrica di Statue Religiose Francesco Rosa of Rome and arrived in Gozo in July 1887. It had been commissioned by the Leone Philarmonic Society of Victoria but on 29th April 1956 it was donated to the Cathedral Parish. It was in that year that the feast started being celebrated as we know it today.
The Cathedral Parish has a popular brass band known as Banda Leone. During the festive week, this band plays both in street marches and also in stage concerts. The Leone Philarmonic Society, that is the official name of the band, owns one of the two famous opera houses in Gozo, the Aurora Theatre.

Festa of St. George Martyr – Victoria

The feast of St. George Marthyr is celebrated in Victoria every second/third week of July. St. George is one of the two parishes of Victoria, the other one being that of the Gozo Cathedral. The Basilica of St. George is situated in the centre of the old town, just off the main square and the market of Gozo's capital.
The parish church of Saint George, definitely originated before 1450, when it is recorded functioning as a parish church. It was a smaller church than the one we see today and was pillaged and razed by the Turks during the notorious ransack of Gozo in July 1551. The old church was restored to its original function as much as possible, but in 1672 a new baroque church was to be built instead.
The foundation stone of the present church was laid on 7 August 1672 and was consecrated on 21 September 1755. The present facade was rebuilt in 1818, while the interior was further enlarged to its present grandeur. The bronze canopy above the high altar, is an imitation of that created by Bernini at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Further decorations such as the dome paintings and those of the ceiling were added more recently.
On 6 September 1958, the church was bestowed the title of Basilica and it became a Archipresbyteral and Collegiate Church aggregated to the Cathedral-Basilica of San Giovanni Laterano, Rome's cathedral, on 8 December 1976.
The main attraction of St. George's Basilica is a statue of the patron saint, St. George, sculpted in wood in 1838 by Paolo Azzopardi. It is the first titular statue acquired by a parish church in Gozo. Moreover, the church boasts a series of masterpiece paintings, most prominent of which is the main altar-piece depicting St. George with a white charger, done by the hands of Mattia Preti (1613 - 1699). The renowned artist who was much influenced by the great Caravaggio delivered another painting to the Basilica, that of the altar-piece in the left transept representing the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Besides, the church is adorned by other artworks of other great names like, Francesco Zahra and Giuseppe d'Arena.
For the external feast, other statues of St. George are erected in the main squares of Victoria. Perhaps the most popular of these is an equestrian statue which is erected at St. George's Square.
Traditional horse races are also held during the feast. These take place in Republic Street on Feast Sunday afterrnoon. St. George's Parish boasts a popular brass band known as Banda La Stella. During the festive week, this band plays both in street marches and also in stage concerts. The La Stella Philarmonic Society, that is the official name of the band, owns one of the two famous Gozitan opera houses, namely the Astra Theatre.