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As the visitor approaches Gozo from the sea his attention is drawn first to the high flat hills of the island. Beneath these hills lies an extensive spread of land divided in the middle by a valley which meanders its way down the sea.
Malta and Gozo rose from beneath the seas around fifteen million years ago. At this time, this land was a southern extension of the Euro-Asian continental mass. The land bridge subsided some fifteen thousand years ago leaving Malta and Gozo as mid-Mediterranean islands. But the Maltese archipelago was left inhabited for thousands of years. Around 7000 years ago, a group of people from Sicily succeeded in crossing over on some pretty reliable sea-craft and colonized the islands.
The people who first colonized Gozo probably lived in the caves known as Il-Mixta on Ghajn Ghabdun plateau to the north west of Gozo. Shreds unearthed on this site, reached through the village of Santa Lucija, are of purer pedigree than any other pottery found elsewhere in the Maltese Islands. This group soon spread in search of agricultural land and the present area of Ghajnsielem, with its bountiful springs, must have been inhabited since early times.
The prehistoric era of Malta and Gozo is dived into three periods. The earliest is known as the Neolithic Period (5000 - 4100 BC), the second is the Temple Period (4100 - 2500 BC) and the third is the Bronze Age (2500 - 700 BC). The greatest undertaking of these earliy times are the Ggantija Temples (3600 - 3000 BC) in Xaghra - a temple that represents an important turning point in the cultural evolution of the prehistoric man in both Malta and Gozo.
An equally important temple complex must have stood within the limits of present day Ghajnsielem at the site known as Tal-Qighan and L-Imrejzbiet, a site now disjoined and truncated by the modern Victoria - Xewkija - Qala road. This prehistoric buildings has been left to rot.
Around 700BC, Malta and Gozo were colonized by the Phoenicians and around 550, by the Carthaginians, who remained masters until 218BC. A Punic inscr i ption indicated that the Carthaginians had a temple on the present Citadel Hill, that was partly fortified. No activity seems to have been carried out at Ghajnsielem at the time.
The Romans took over in 218BC at the beginning of the second Punic War, creating Gozo a municipium independent of Malta with a republican sort of Government that minted its own coins The Romans turned the Citadel into their acropolis and a town developed beneath its walls. The acropolis and its town were known simply as Gaulos Oppidum - the town of Gozo. Under the Romans , Christianity reached the shores of the island. In 60AD, Saint Paul the Apostle, while journeying to Rome was Shipwrecked on Malta.
Around 455, the islands were occupied by the Vandals, and from 476 by the Ostrogoths. In 535m they passed under the domination of the East Roman Empire that is under the Byzantines.
In 870, the Aghlabid Arabs besieged Malta, killed most of the inhabitants, and left the archipelago in ruins. Around 1045, a group of Saracens came over from Sicily and recolonized the island. The roots of the Maltese language were laid down by these Arab-speaking Muslims, who gave the name of Ghawdex to the island of Gozo and that of Mdina to the Gozo Citadel. The toponym of Ghajnsielem must have also originated at that time.
In 1091, Count Roger the Norman established a nominal suzerainty over Malta, but the Saracens remained masters paying an annual tribute. The population - concentrated within the Citadel and Rabat - began rising steadily. The rule of lords came to an end around 1397. During these times, a local government was formed to defend local interested. It was headed by the Hakem. This government had to do its best to maintain the freedom and privileges of the Gozitans, to provide them with necessary wheat and barley for bread, and to supervise the defenses of the island.
The increase of commerce between the island must have led to the foundation of a settlement close to Mgarr Harbour. However, during the summer months, living in the area was dangerous. A constant flow of corsairs entered the harbour to replenish their cisterns with water and to plunder. In 1418, the local government petitioned the Aragonese rulers to help them build a tower on theIsland of Comino as the passage between the islands was wrought with danger due to the many corsairs seeking refuge in the caves and coves on the island. The project did not materialize due to lack of funds
On the 23rd of March 1530, Emperor Charles V donated Malta and Gozo to the chivalrous religious order of the Knights of Saint John. Initially the Knights made no improvement to Gozo and in 1551, the island suffered its worst siege in history. The entire population of about 5000 were taken into slavery. Grandmaster Juan d' Homedes and his Council initially entertained the idea of abandoning Gozo. Yet sweet home soon attracted back the few hundreds who had escaped from slavery and the fewer who were redeemed. The Citadel was slowly rebuilt and and it flourished once again. Until 1637, Gozitans were bound by law to spend the night within. As the population had by then increased to just under 3000, many families must have shared a single room. But when laws were repealed, residents began to abandon the Citadel to more spacious houses in Rabat. The area between Rabat and Ghajnsielem was also starting to gain popularity. It was during this period that the Sistine Chapel was first recorded.
Here it is interesting to note that the name of our village is first recorded as 'Hain Selem' in a notarial act drawn by Joannes Domenico Formosa on 17th February 1587 (National Archives, Malta MS836, 76R).
The name of the village is a composite of 'Ghajn' (spring of) and 'Is-sliem' (peace). This name probably refers to a natural spring which used to supply water. This sprint is connected with a legend about Nardu, a man from Xewkija, who returned to Gozo from slavery on the Barbary Coast. On his return he looked for his wife and daughter, Ursula. The latter being the sole survivor, he found her, by now a married woman, near this spring. Since then, the spring started to be called Ghajn is-Sliem, because Nardu found piece when he met his daughter. Another version is 'Ghajn Salem', a corrupt name for Selim, a Turkish naval commander, who compelled his crew to disembark at Mgarr and replenish their water supply from this spring every time he happened to be sailing by the Maltese Islands.
The village was the last one to develop on the island, if the Mgarr area is excluded. It is in fact not mentioned in a detailed census of Gozo taken in the first half of 1667. The site was dangerously close to a landing place at a time when the Mediterranean was invested with pirates. It was still the time of the Knights, when fierce corsairs from Barbary ruled the waves and people were loath to live near the coast. Worst, the fresh water springs close to the port were known to friend and foe.
It was one only from the middle of the seventeenth century, when Grazes Tower (a tower constructed on the promontory overlooking Mgarr harbour) and, later, Fort Chambray rendered the place safe and sound, that the first farmhouses were built close to the spring that gave name to the village.
The Gozo-Malta channel was also rendered safer in 1618 when Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt financed the construction of Santa Marija Tower on the mid-channel island of Comino. Gradually the fear began to erode as the threat from the Berber pirates declined and peace resigned over the seas. People began descending to the fertile land near the coast.
In 1667, there were 57 persons living in fourteen households in the Mgarr area. This small community was still part of the Citadel Parish until 1688, when it passed under the newly founded parish of Nadur. It was around this time that the first houses were raised in Ghajnsielem close to the fountain at the end of Wied Simirat. With corsairs and pirates a thing of the past and a steadily rising commerce between the two islands, the population of Ghajnsielem continued growing steadily.
Ghajnsielem simply means Salem's spring. Salem is a very popular Arab name, extinct in Maltese. It is possible that the names goes back to the Arab rule and refers to its owner. The spring referred to in the toponym was situated at the end of Wied Simirat - the valley that terminates in the present Pjazza Tad-Dehra in the very centre of the village. In 1710, the Grand Master Raymond Perellos after getting the approval of his Council General, ordered the construction of an arcade around the spring. Beneath the arcade, six stone washing basins were constructed, into which water from the spring was channeled. These facilities proved to be a boon to the increasing population of the late 18th and 19th century. The woman found them especially suitable for washing laundry. For over two centuries, from dawn onwards the area around the spring was throngs with chattering woman. The woman-folk congregated there in the mornings washing the laundry in the troughs while the man lazing off their afternoon under the canopy of the mulberry trees. Rare where the occasions where the spring remained idle. According to old people, even at night one could hear the sound of splashing water and constant vigorous scrubbing.
This photo was taken during the beginning of 20th century and shows the Wash-House
But to maintain hygiene in such a place was a problem. Less and less care was taken to the washing area and in the latter years of its existent, the arcade was left in a state of reckless abandon, the whole place stinking with filth until its removal in the early fifties to make way for a new square.
The present Pjazza tad-Dehra began to take shape in 1865 when a bridge was built over the end of Wied Simirat. In 1911, Triq Simirat was joined to Triq fuq il-Ghajn by the building of a new street. Before long, this became known as the Apparition Square. In 1954, so as to further enlarge the piazza, it was decided, unbelievably but true, to demolish the historic wash-house and entomb the spring that gave its name to the village.
Ghajnsielem valley in Wied il-kbir offers an enchanting viewed from the Apparition Square. Terraced fields and sprawling dark green carob trees hug its sides in its upper reaches. Then the valley dips down into a sea of swaying reeds, all the way down to Mgarr.
On 5th September 1800, the British took the Maltese islands under their protection. Malta and Gozo became a British Crown Colony in 1813. Fort Chambray was put to very good use by the British and this generated trade and jobs for many Ghajnsilmizi.
Meanwhile, the population had by then increased considerably and Ghajnsielem was in the process of becoming a Parish on its own. All started when Anglu Grech, who lived in the vicinity, used to take his sheep and goats to the spring every day. While the flock quenched its thirst, he sought shade under a carob tree (Harruba) and often knelt down in prayer. One day, he beheld a vision just across the spring. A beautiful lady dressed immaculately white invited him to raise a statue in her honour on a lip of land close by. He understood. A shrine would enhance his prayers and encourage fellow farmers to raise their minds to God. Anglu recounted his experience to the few families which at the time lived in Ghajnsielem and told them the mysterious lady's wish.The people immediately collected money to commission a stone statue of Our Lady of Loreto and built a nice to house it. After the statue was placed in niche, people used to gather around it to recite the Rosary. A small nearby chapel was built in 1810 and blessed in 1820. Although Ghajnsielem was part of the Nadur Parish, the inhabitants were finding it difficult to to go up to the Nadur parish church to hear mass and carry out their spiritual needs.
The first vicar in charge was Dun Guzepp Xerri, who was succeeded by Dun Frangisk Xkembri and in 1842 by Dun Anton Cauchi from Rabat. He succeeded to convince Archbishop Publios Sant to erect a new parish church. On 1st January 1854, the region became vice parish and the procedure for the establishment of a parish was set in motion. Ghajnsielem was officially established as parish in the 26th of January 1855
The status of the settlement was elevated from that of a hara (area) to a rahal (village). The British had an indirect part in this development and they also played their part in the establishment of the diocese of Gozo in 1864.
In 1861, the people of Ghajnsielem made up 6.09% or 942 of the 15,459 Gozitans. The population reached its peak of 1,333 in 1901 but then, with the beginning of organized emigration to Australia and America, the growth comes to a halt. The situated changed again after the second World War with the so called baby-boom. There were many marriages and naturally more births in the immediate post-war years.
As the population increased, the village spread in all directions simultaneously: to the north along Wied Simirat, in the area know as Il-Gnien, and also Fuq il-Ghajn; to the east towards Il-Hamri; and to the West towards il-Fawwara and ta' San Mikiel next to the new Parish Church.
The majority of the villagers were engaged in sailing and farming. Sailors on the Gozo boat would be leaving the port as early as three o' clock in the morning arriving at the Grand Harbour in the evening. The return journey used to start the following morning and the arrival to Mgarr at sunset the same day. The farmers on the other hand would already be at work early in the morning doing the hard work before the scorching sun at its highest. At about nine o' clock the house housewives used to go to the bakery where the bread had to be molded - it was done by the housewives themselves. After mid-day meal, the woman folk used to turn their attention to lace-making. Nearly every member of the female population learned when still young the intricate art of Lace-Making.
The church occupied special importance, especially on Sundays. the sailors of the 'Gozo boats' unable to attend mass during their weekdays made good for their absence on Sunday. After mass a good number of man used to travel to Victoria where the market was in full swing. In the afternoons the woman devoted their free time to tombola while the man organized some lawn bowling. At around three o' clock the whole village found its way to the church for the Sunday Vespers. After the church back to tombola and bowling till the arrival of sundown made their play impossible. But the church's influence at those time can be described as overwhelming. The Sunday cermon used to be delivered to a full church with the congration overflowing into the square.
The British slowly transformed the islands into a fortress colony. Their resistance to the Axis bombardments during the second World War became a legend. Between 1940 and 1942, eleven shelters were dug throughout the village of Ghajnsielem and another four within Fort Chambray.
The village suffered a direct hit on the 29th of January 1942 just after seven in the morning. Several houses were severally damaged in Hamri Street and five members of the family of Wenzu Grech, the village head teacher, lost their lives. At the time he was hearing mass and he was unhurt.
The merchandise boats plying between Mgarr and the Grand Harbour as well as the Gozo-Malta ferry boat Royal Lady were attacked several times by the Luftwaffe. On May 6th 1942 at 3.30pm several bombers and fighters flew low over Mgarr and one of them released six bombs splitting the Royal Lady into two. The New Royal Lady was delivered in 1938 to replace the Royal Lady. She came from the same builders, Thomas Crown & Sons, Sunderland, but was larger and faster.
The Barrakka, the old coffee and rest-house, was also blown. However people had sought shelter and no one lost life or limp that day. In all twenty Ghajnsilmizi died as a result of enemy action during the World War II, many of them on duty on merchandise boats and ships.
The Growth and Development of the Village
The war brought a profound change in the village. Emigration started to take place due to the lack of job opportunities in our island. But the development of Mgarr harbour in the late sixties helped Gozo to unleash a new lease of life and a new era of prosperity for Ghajnsielem.
Development began at Ta' Gliex, along the Mgarr - Nadur Road. After the second World War, development also exploded behind St Joseph Home, and at Ta' Cordina, the area overlooking ix-Xatt l-Ahmar where there were already several farmhouses. In 1970s, development began at Ta' Passi, behind the village school, as well as at tal-Gudja. It proceeded along il-Wied ta' Martin, the area between il-Gudja and Saint Anthony Church, followed by the building of the area of l-Imrejzbiet in 1980s, and tal-Kaxxa, the area between Simirat Street and the Xewkija - Qala road in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Administrations
Ghajnsielem has had two administrations partly responsible for the village in modern times. The first was the Gozo Civic Council, a statutory local government body having a distinct legal personality, established on 14 April 1961. Elections for the first district committees took place on 4 June 1961 and Ghajnsielem, like all other villages, was to return six candidates. Seven candidates contested the election. Domenic Scicluna, obtained the highest number of votes, in descending order, by Joseph Cauchi, Anthony Grech, Publius Scicluna, Amabile Xuereb, Carmel Agius, and Mariano Xuereb. The first six were elected and on 19 June they in turn elected Joseph Cauchi to represent Ghajnsielem on the Gozo Civic Council. Cauchi was elected by lot as in the second count he got the same number of votes as Amabile Xuereb. The Council was made up of fourteen members; they represented the town and the thirteen villages of Gozo. It held its first meeting on 4 July 1961. The Council and the district Committees functioned until 4 December 1973, when the then Prime Minister Dom Mintoff suppressed the institution through an Act of Parliament.
The second administration was the Local Council. Like the other councils of Malta and Gozo, it was established in 1993 following the Maltese Parliament’s approval, on 30th June 1993, of the Local Councils Act, 1993 (Act No. XV of 1993). The Local Councils Act was modeled on the European Charter of Local Self-Government, which the Maltese Government had signed and ratified. According to this Act, "The Council shall be a statutory local government authority having a distinct legal personality and capable of entering into contracts, of suing and being sued, and of doing all such things and entering into such transactions as are incidental or conducive to the exercise and performance of its functions as are allowed under the Act." The first election for the Ghajnsielem Local Council took place on Saturday, 19 March 1994. Francis Cauchi was elected as the first mayor of Ghajnsielem.
The need for a new Parish Church
As the population of the village increased the need to build a new larger church was felt. The new church was to be built on a Gothic-Lombard style on the basis of a latin cross. Work on the building of the Sanctuary was halted on several occasions, the longest of which was undoubtedly that between 1939 and 1946 - during the war years. Parish Priest Espedito Tabone gave a new impetus to the project and the building was finally completed with the blessing of the bell tower in June 1979. The church itself had been blessed a year earlier, on 29th August 1978.
The Educational Facilities
During the early years of the 20th century, schooling was given in three separate locations, namely in a part leased from the Friars College in St. Anthony Street, in a house in Hamri Street as well as in a large building known as the old school in the same street, now occupied by foreign residents. The present school was inaugurated in September 1965 and is visible by all visitors to Gozo proceeding up the road from Mgarr Harbour. The present school was built on a wide open area and in subsequent years, parts of it were taken over by the then Posts Department, now Maltapost, the Art School and the Works Department.
New Premises for the major Clubs
During this period, the St Joseph Band Club was also in the process of building a new premises. At first the Band occupied part of the Institute’s building and as space was no problem the Band could organize cultural and social activities, besides the basic musical ones. But after some time, it was felt by many members that the musical society should cut off its connection with the institute. This problem was tackled and (with hindsight) overcome by the then Committee, with the contract for a piece of land centrally located near Ghajnsielem’s New Parish Church of Our Lady of Loreto. By 1976 the new headquarters was functioning and immediately became not only the musical center of the community but also a social and cultural club.
During the early 1990s, Ghajnsielem Football Club started the construction of the new club premises right next to the Club’s training ground got under way. This impressive structure was built and equipped thanks to the efforts of all the people of Ghajnsielem living here and abroad. The new clubhouse was officially inaugurated on Saturday, August 20, 1994.
Other major projects included the construction of a new Parish Center and a new premises for the Boys' Museum Society. All these premises including the Ghajnsielem Primary School, Ta' Passi Recreational Area and the Football Ground are located in the same area (i.e. between Chambray Street and the main Parish Square). A number of private bars and restaurants have also decided to open their business in the vicinity. All this proudly makes the Ghajnsielem Center one of the most beautiful squares in Malta and Gozo.
The village that built itself around that spring derives its name from it, the spring of 'Hain Salem' which means 'Spring of Peace'. The village grew around this spring which for many years was the meeting par excellence of the village.
Today this veritable 'Spring of life' is no longer in existence, buried deep under what is now a modern Square. Gone the spring may be, but it lives on in the name of the thriving community which proudly bears its name.
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Lourdes
Chapel from where, especially at sunset, a beautiful view of Mgarr
Harbour could be enjoyed. The 18th Century Fort Chambray, which was
once unsuccessfully planned to be Gozo's Valletta, is also worth noting
especially its perimeter. Up there you can discover views of Gozo's
southern cliffs, Xatt l-Aħmar Bay and those of the Northern Comino
Channel. The narrow winding road leading to peaceful bay of 
Xatt l-Ahmar could be traced from there, or else you could endeavour
towards the village centre for a visit to the majestic Lombard-Gothic
sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto. In the vicinity there is
also the old parish church and the mysterious "Pjazza tad-Dehra"
(square of the apparition) where it is believed that Our Lady has
spoken to a local shepherd Anglu Grech. The parish owes its origin to
the story of this apparition. A visit to the old Franciscan convent and
church of St. Anthony of Padua is also worthwhile. Apart from the
tranquillity of the area surrounding the convent, one could not remain
anything less than charmed by the views upon the Gozo Channel
particularly early in the morning or late at sunset.
The plateau hilltop on which the town stands descends towards several
evergreen valleys. Amongst them one finds the Eghzien Valley and Ghajn
Xejba Valley, which lead into Marsalforn Valley. The terraced fields
are the utmost fertile areas and are henceforth the source of the best
agricultural products and grapes of the highest quality.Xaghra is
certainly one of the spots in Gozo where there has been human
habitation since extremely early times. Here one can find the Neolithic
temples of Ggantija, which are acknowledged to be the oldest
free-standing structures in the world.
On that edge of the town overlooking a splendid view of Ramla Bay, one
can find the mythological Calypso Cave, the home of the nymph Calypso
mentioned in Homer's Odyssey. Yet other caves are renowned for the
fantastic shapes of their stalagmites and stalactites, formed over the
ages by the slow filtration of rainwater through the limestone which
composes the tableland. Xerri's Grotto and Ninu's Cave are ample
examples of such natural marvel.
The village boasts an attractive windmill known as Ta' Kola Windmill,
after its last tenant. The present windmill structure was built on 5th
September 1786. It is the only windmill in Gozo that has its own
original wooden cogwheel machinery in good functioning order. This is
due to the last tenant who took prestigious care according to the
conditions of the lease that was granted to him by the Order. Intensive
restoration was carried out on the Windmill in the early 90's that gave
her back its original splendour. Today it is functioning as a museum
rendering Ta' Kola Windmill an ideal attraction to hundreds of tourists
who visit Xaghra all year round.
A curious museum that one should not miss when visiting Xaghra, is the
"Pomskizillious" Museum of Toys, where a display of antique collectors'
toys is exhibited.
Bishop Davide Cocco Palmieri established Xaghra as an independent
parish on 28th April 1688. The first parish church was the medieval
chapel dedicated to St. Anthony the Abbot, still standing today. The
beautiful, present-day Parish Basilica is dedicated to the Nativity of
the Blessed Virgin Mary. The feast is celebrated every 8th September,
locally known as "Il-Festa tal-Vittorja" commemorating the victory of
the Maltese under the Knights of St. John over the Turks in the Siege
of 1565. The feast of the Nativity of Our Lady has been since then a
traditional national holiday.
