About Us - A Short History

A Very Concise History of Gozo

Malta's pre-history is shrouded in mystery since nobody knows exactly when the first inhabitants came to the Maltese Islands.

The most famous artifacts that are to be found on the islands are certainly the neolithic temples - the oldest of which are Ggantija temples of Gozo.

Although I am sure that, like most people around the world, you have heard of the pyramids of Egypt and of Stonehenge in the UK, can you honestly state that you have heard of Ġgantija (English pronounciation: "Jig-ant-iyah") Temples of Gozo? The answer I am sure is "No!"

Yet the Guiness' Book of Records states:

"The oldest free standing structures in the world are now believed to be the megalithic temples at ..... Ġgantija in Gozo - from about 3,600 B.C."

Ġgantija is thus 1000 years older than the Pyramids at Giza and 2000 years older than Stonehenge!

Since no one can date stone, the temples' building date could not be ascertained with great precision. During the late 1950s (when Malta was still a British colony) the government rested on the opinion of an expert of immaculate reputation - the archaeologist Dr. David Trump, professor of Archaeology at Cambridge University in the UK.

Dr. Trump reasoned that in order to cross over from Sicily people would need some sort of water transport of some kind. Since the oldest boat known in those days - excavated near the tomb of Cheops - dated from 3,000 B.C.E., Dr. Trump argued that Malta’s first inhabitants couldn’t have crossed over from Sicily before 5,000 B.C.E. simply because no water craft of any kind – not even rafts – existed before that time.

So he dated all the Temples and the artifacts that were found therein were dated to this period.

Since those days, new archeological finds - especially those at the Xaghra Stone Circle - have established 5,600 B.C.E. as the probable date of the first arrivals of humans on the island.

This is already fantastic in itself, but recent discoveries may put this date even much further than this. More details can be found in the article "Malta's First Settlers" in this site.

Below is a table highlighting the most important events in Gozo's history:

5,600 B.C.E.	Settlers from the southern part of Sicily arrive in Gozo (then later crossed to Malta).
5,400 B.C.E.	Xaghra Stone Circle was being used. Although partly excavated this site (which was used as a cemetery or Hypogeum as hundreds of human skeletons have been found) has already unearthed a huge amount of artifacts such as a huge bowl and five statuettes that are amongst the oldest in the world.
4,500 ~ 3,000 B.C.E. - Temple Period	Gozo has a total of seven Neolithic sites the most prominent and best preserved are the Ġgantija Temples listed as "The oldest free standing structures in the world" by Guinness' Book of Records. As expected they are an UNESCO declared "World Heritage Site". The oldest temple site is the "Ta Verna" temples not far from Ggantija.
2,500 B.C.E.	Warlike Bronze Age People in Malta. These cremated their dead and left the Ta' Cenc's Dolmens.
700 B.C.E.	The Phoenicians established colonies in the islands - including Gozo, which they named Gwl (pronounced Gahwl). They built a wall around the town of Gozo which was also called Gwl. They cetainly also erected buildings on the hill which today hosts the Cittadella - the remains of a Phoenician wall was discovered recently in the foundations of the Gozo Cathedral. (Later on this word was changed to "Gaulos" by the Greeks)
550 B.C.E.	The Maltese islands swayed under the control of Carthage.
218 B.C.E.	The Romans ousted the Carthaginians from the islands during the second Punic War. The Carthaginians never took the islands back. Gozo give the status of a Municipium (an autonomous region) with the right to mint its own coins. Changed Gozo's name to Gaudos (this word is the root of the local name for Gozo: Ghawdex - pron Aww-desh).
60 C.E.	St. Paul shipwrecked in Malta. Legend has it that the Gozitans heard him preach from Xewkija!
535 C.E.	The islands passed under the dominion of the Bizantines.
870 C.E.	The islands are conquered by the Aglabid Arabs. Gave Gozo its present name: Ghawdex - as it is called by the locals. Build today's citadel and dismanteled most of the ancient Phoenician / Roman wall that surrounded the township of Gozo in those days. Named the part of the township outside the citadel Rabat the name by which the locals call their main town.
1127 C.E.	Count Roger de Hauteville of Normandy formally took possession of Gozo - but he allowed the Arabs to remain so long as they paid taxes. In Gozo the Arabs mainly stayed in a village on the west coast of the island which is called Gharb ( In Maltese the Gh is silent so Gharb is pronounced Arb for Arab!) The Maltese islands are annexed to the kingdom of Sicily. Legend states that Count Roger's flag was a red and white chequered one. The Maltese asked him for their own flag and he simply cut off a piece of his own flag with the colours of white and red which has been the flag of Malta (white to the staff) since those days.
1194 to 1530 C.E.	The islands passed into the hands of a succession of feudal lords whose sole aim was to extract the highest possible amount of taxes from the local inhabitants. During this time the islands passed through the kingdoms of Swabia (1194), Angou (1266) and Aragon (1282).
1397 C.E.	The Gozitans created the Universitas Gaudisii (a body to defend local interests). From then onwards the Gozitans fought hard to maintain their ancient privelages and freedom.
1530 C.E.	On the 23rd of March 1530 C.E. the islands passed formally under the rule of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem.
1551 C.E.	The Turks under the leadership if Sinan Pasha beseiged the medieval Citadel. The walls were never taken, but Gozo's cowardly governor the knight de Sesse ceded the town and opened the doors to the enemy. Gozo's entire population of about 5,000 persons were carted off and sold in the slave markets of Constantinople. The continued lack of interest to fortify the citadel, and the continuous raides by barbary pirates who carted off any person that they met with, are the main reasons as to why no villages developed until the late 17th century.
1680 C.E.	The knights of St.John started to build some coastal defences in Gozo and strengthened the citadel walls. The northern wall of the citadel is still the old wall that the Arabs built in 870 C.E.
1798 C.E.	On 10th June 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte ousted the Knights from the islands. However, their rule in Gozo was very short lived - just three months. In September of that year, the Gozitans rose against the French who surrendered on the 28th of October. In Malta, French rule lasted two years. In the meantime the Gozitans enjoyed a short period of autonomy.
1800 C.E.	On the 5th of September 1800 the French in Malta surrendered to the British Admiral Alexander Ball.
1814 C.E.	Under the treaty of Paris, the British formally annexed the islands of Malta as a Crown colony. Malta was slowly transformed into an island fortress.
1964 C.E.	Malta gained its independence from Britain - who however maintained their bases in Malta. The British coinage that was used in Malta remained the legal coinage.
1972 C.E.	Malta adopted the Decimal System and changed its coinage. The Maltese Lira (Lm) consisting of 100 cents became the legal coinage of Malta.
1974 C.E.	Malta became a Republic within the British Commonwealth on the 13th of December 1974.
1979 C.E.	The British forces left the islands for good in 1979. There never were any military bases in Gozo.
1987 C.E.	The Ministry of Gozo was set up.
2004 C.E.	Gozo, as a part of Malta forms part of the European Union. Gozo is recognised as a region with special privelages by the E.U.
2008 C.E.	The Euro becomes the legal coinage of Malta on the 1st of January in lieu of the Maltese Lira.