Captured the St George Basilica in Rabat from the Cittadella ramparts.
Before going to our appointed dinner at Marsalforn (Gozo), last Friday, we drove to just below the Cittadella to take a walk and some shots from this silent city. The ramparts of the city still stand solid and firm and provide a great 360degree view of the surroundings – currently restoration works are being carried out on these ramparts and also on the Gozo cathedral. The city is more like a fortified castle where in the old days the farmers living in Gozo could take refuge from marauding pirates seeking to take slaves. There are only a few buildings still standing in the Cittadella, the most important is the Gozo Cathedral dedicated to the Holy Virgin Mary, the Cathedral Museum, the Gozo Law courts, a folklore museum, and a few other buildings. Along the narrow streets and lanes are remains of demolished buildings as if the place has received a direct hit from a bomb or suffered an earthquake. However, I have recently learnt that when people living in the Cittadella started moving out of the city to the newer and bigger Rabat (also named Victoria for the British Queen) , they hauled down their houses and carried the limestone bricks for use in the new buildings. The place has been left tale quale as there is a great possibility of archeological finds if and when it is decided to start excavation.
Thank you so very much for looking and for your lovely comments on yeasterday's picture
Living in a world so ancient you must have smiled at my "historical' image. But it does make me wonder, what did our English soldier settlers think when they came to our valley to find nothing but a three roomed shack to call home. They had to be brave, brave people.
