A FOCUS on GOZO ©The University of Malta Gozo Centre
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A FOCUS ON GOZO ©The University of Malta Gozo Centre. All rights reserved. No reproduction or transmission of this publication may be made without the prior permission of the copyright holders. First published in April 1996. Reprinted in February 1997, in collaboration with the Parliamentary Secretariat for Gozo. Produced by Formatek Ltd Malta ISBN 99909-49-03-4 Front Cover: A Windmill at Qala, Gozo. Photo: Ted Attard A FOCUS ON GOZO Edited by Joseph Farrugia and Lino Briguglio Produced by Forrnatek Ltd, Malta Published by the University of Malta Gozo Centre in collaboration with the Ministry for Gozo and the Foundation for International Studies Malta - April 1996 CONTENTS PREFACE 1 The Hon. Anton Tabone, Minister for Gozo INTRODUCTION 3 Joseph Farrugia and Lino Briguglio THE GEOLOGY OF GOZO 5 George Zammit Maempel THE FLORA AND VEGETATION OF GOZO 26 Edwin Lanfranco PREHISTORIC AND ROMAN GOZO 41 Anthony Bonanno RELIGION: A PERSPECTIVE INTO GOZO'S MYSTERY 58 Joseph Farrugia THE 1551 SIEGE OF GOZO AND THE REPOPULATION OF THE ISLAND 74 Stanley Fiorini DON LORENZO DE APAPIS (1501c-1586): THE DRAMA OF A SIXTEENTH CENTURY GOZITAN PRIEST 91 , Eugene F. Montanaro SOME NOTES ON THE HISTORY OF GOZO AND ITS OLD CITY UNDER THE KNIGHTS OF ST JOHN 104 Albert Camilleri IN SEARCH OF GOZO'S ANCIENT TOWN: SOME WRITTEN AND UNWRITTEN SOURCES 121 PawluMizzi REFLECTIONS ON THE HISTORIOGRAPHY OF HOSPITALLER GOZO 146 Victor Mallia Milanes FROM WHEAT TO BREAD THROUGH THE GOZO WINDMILLS 152 Joseph M. Attard Tabone GOZO AND ITS MUSIC 172 Joseph Vella MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY GOZO FROM AN UNPUBLISHED CONTEMPORARY SOURCE 183 Franco Masini THE BRITISH RULE AND GOZO 1800-1964 193 Joseph Bezzina THE DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS FOR GOZO 201 Mario Tabone BIO-NOTES ON THE CONTRIBUTORS TO THE VOLUME 213 Editorial Note: The letters c (as in [ch]urch), g (as in [j]et), h (as in [h]orse) and i (as in [z]ip) in Maltese words, are rendered in a Maltese font. Arabic terms have been transcribed as follows: jim is rendered by dj and ha is rendered by h. The Arabic cayn is rendered by c. A Focus on Gozo PREFACE The Hon. Anton Tabone Minister for Gazo his is the third volume published by the University of Malta Gozo TCentre, since its establishment in 1993. The first two books dealt respectively with Tourism and with Culture in Gozo. The Gozo Centre has now established itself as an important institution in Gozitan life, and its activities and publications are making an important contribution to Gozitan cultural development. This book contains a selection of papers originally presented in the form oflectures during the course entitled A Focus on Gozo, which the Gozo Centre organised in 1994-95. The course, coordinated by Rev. Dr. Joseph Farrugia, was very well attended, and the themes of the talks raised considerable interest among the Gozitan public. The organisers and my Ministry thought it would be good idea if these talks were published in one volume since this permitted the authors to elaborate on the themes of their talks, given that the 45 minute lectures presented a time constraint which restricted the amount of material that could be pre sented. Moreover, the publication of the lectures in a book adds to the durability of the contributions, since, unlike a lecture which is confined to a specific period of time, a printed paper can be consulted and studied over and over again. In addition, the inclusion ofreference sources in the written version of the papers, render them very useful to students and researchers in matters related to Gozo. A glance at the contents page of the book indicates that the volume covers a wide variety of themes, ranging from the physical to the cultural and the religious. Although a large proportion of the material is related to the history ofGozo, the book cannot be considered exclusively as a contribu tion to historical literature. Rather, as the editors suggest in their introduction, it is a search for the character and soul of the island. 1 Preface Producing a book of this nature requires considerable time and effort. Rev. Dr Joseph Farrugia and Professor Lino Briguglio have done a very good editorial job, considering the diverse nature of the papers and the different academic backgrounds of the contributors. I would like to thank them most heartily for their painstaking work. I would like to thank all the authors ofthe papers, since, obviously, without their contribution the book could not have been published. I would also like to thank the Rector of the University ofMalta, Rev. Prof. Peter Serracino lnglott, and the members of the Board of the Gozo Centre, for their important contribution to education and culture in Gozo. My ministry has found it possible, and very rewarding, to collaborate with the Centre, not only in the production of this and the previous two books published by the Centre, but also in the various academic and social activities which the Centre organises from time to time. The fruit of such collaboration, which has now have developed into a strategic alliance, are there for all to see. 2 A Focus on Gazo INTRODUCTION Joseph Farrugia and Lino Briguglio t is arguable whether one may speak of a specifically "Gozitan" culture I but there is no doubt that Gozo possesses a soul, a character which is distinctly perceptible and intrinsically its own. It is a character rooted in its physical features, its geographical location and insularity, and abides in the island's geology, natural territorial features and vegetation. It is a cultural character which has drawn from the almost constant presence of man on the island for almost 7000 years. It therefore has had a varied ethnic input which started as far back as the dawn of Mediter ranean civilization, and which it now exudes. Gozo's central position in the Mediterranean placed it at the crossroads of many civilizations and this determined the wide cross-fertilization of its culture. It is a character moulded by history, bearing memories of plenty and want, peace and violence, freedom, colonization and slavery. The Gozitans have experienced events ofgreat historical moment, events which marked the passage of historical eras and which often saw the local population helplessly entangled in developments which swamped them and anony mously decided their fate and daily fortunes. Gozo's character is also a religious one, serenely acknowledging the innate human desire to reach beyond the confines of physical life and establish some kind of contact with perceived divinity and continued life after death. There is also a contemporary aspect in Gozo's character, in the sense that the island does not wallow in its past, but expresses itself in the more prosaic terms of the present and applies its resolute will to survive and achieve its well-being, in spite of the severe constraints it faces due to its very small size. 3 Introduction Such is Gozo's small size that one can mistakenly assume that the personality and character of the island are oflittle significance, and need not be studied and understood. The contents of this volume show otherwise. The title A Focus on Gozo, was chosen precisely because the editors felt that it is very worthwhile zooming in on a number of areas related to the island's physical and cultural development to understand the multifaceted impacts that have shaped the island's character, as we know it today. Various themes are treated in this book. Dr George Zammit Maempel and Mr Edwin Lanfranco focus their attention on natural and environ mental aspects. Professor Anthony Bonanno explores the island's prehistoric archeology and introduces us to its earliest history. Rev. Dr Joseph Farrugia explores the religious dimension of Gozo's personality and traces its evolution down the island's history. Professor Stanley Fiorini, Dr Eugene Montanaro, Dr Albert Camilleri, Rev. Dr Joseph Bezzina and Mr Franco Masini respectively tackle interesting aspects of Medieval, Hospitaller and British Gozo. Dr Victor Mallia Milanes and Mr Pawlu Mizzi introduce us to some hitherto unexplored problems connected with Gozitan historiography, and issue an important warning as to the interpretation of history. Professor Joseph Vella, Dr Mario Tabone and Mr Joseph Attard Tabone enrich this publication with their respective focus on some important features of Gozitan culture. It is hoped that this book will constitute another valid contribution to the literature on Gozo. We would like to thank the authors of the papers included in this volume, and all those involved in the production of this book, notably Mrs Maryrose Vella, for her secretarial assistance. 4 A Focus on Goza THE GEOLOGY OF GOZO George Zammit Maempel n the distant past, all knowledge that did not relate to God was I considered mundane and was dumped under the heading Geology (Geos: earth; logia: study of) - in contradistinction to Theology (Theos: God). It was not before the second half of the 16th century that Geology was used in its modern, restricted sense, in a manuscript attributed to Juanelo Turrientes (Lopez de Azcona, 1987: 48). In the printed form, the term 'Geology' appeared a century later when M. P. Escholt published his Geologia Norvegica in 1657. Geology, as we know it today is a science related to the study ofrocks and to the natural processes/forces acting upon them. Broadly speaking the geology ofGozo is not much different from that of Malta, but there are a few sedimentary structures as well as some geomorphogical and tectonic features which are more evident on one island than on the other. Gozo is the second largest and the most northern island of the Maltese archipelago, which lies on a Northwest-Southeast axis, with a slight Northeast tilt.