Għarb

L-Għarb means West and this typical old Gozitan village unsurprisingly lies in the West of the Island. It started life as a small hamlet centuries ago. You can see its ancient roots in the centre of the village where some houses have fine examples of decorated stone balconies. The population of l-Għarb is of about 1266 people with a total of 400 families. The area of l-Għarb is about 14.3sq kms. L-Għarb is surrounded by two villages, that of St Lawrence and Għasri, and the sea. L-Għarb was made a parish in 1679. This triggered the need of building a new, baroque parish church. It was built between 1699 and 1729. The church has an elegant facade which has been compared with Borromini's S. Agnese in Piazza Navona, Rome. This version is naturally a simpler interpretation of the style. During excavation works at ‘il-Mixta’ of Għajn Abdul, in Neolithic times according to Dr Trump, pre-historic pottery was found. This means that people lived here between 3800 – 3630 BC. From these excavations made by the department of Museums, results showed that people used to live in these caves also during the Bronze Age between 1630 – 800BC. In the areas of Dwejra and San Dimitri there are signs of cart tracks on rocks, which today are buried beneath road surface. Some people think that the Phoenicians on their journeys to the west used to live in Għarb from where they planned their sea journeys. A book written by the Maltese author Antonju Caruana – ‘Sull’Origine della lingua Maltese’ says that remains of the Phoenicians were found in Għarb. Can G. Piet Agius de Soldanis says that ‘ix-Xaqqufija’ in Għarb is a small place where Romans used to live. In Għarb there were also Byzantine names like ‘Kardusa’ near San Dimitri. Chev. Vincent Bonello says that it might be possible that around the 7th Century, after being expelled from North Africa, some monks might have built chapels or monasteries in these areas. It could also be possible that the Byzantine inhabited the Islands before the Arabs did. After the Arabs took over these islands Arabic became the official language. Some old people from Għarb, more than any other villages in Gozo, are still using some of these words today in their daily life. Words similar to ‘Wied id-Dluka’, ‘Wied ir-Rahab’, ‘Għammar’ and ‘cuplajs’, ‘srew’, ‘ghannewwel’ etc could still be heard in Għarb. About 80 years ago the people of Għarb used to wear the ‘kabozza’ in the cold winter nights. The Arabs introduced ‘The Kabozza’ in these islands and in these islands it was associated with the village of Għarb. Mikiel Anton Vassalli a scholar of the Maltese language came to Għarb to hear the old and pure Maltese language as spoken by the old villagers of Għarb. Fr Manwel Magri came to Għarb for the same purpose, to record old words, legends and proverbs from our forefathers, when Archpriest Fr Carmel Portelli was still alive. The tower of Dwejra was built in 1651, during the days of the Grand Master De Paule and two cannons were erected. There was another tower on ‘Ta’ Dbiegi’ hill but it perished during an earthquake. The Cemetery by the Church was constructed in the year 1703 and came to cost around 150 ‘Skudi’. It was extended on the 26th June 1814 and was blessed by Bishop Ferdinandu Matti. This cemetrey was used for those who died of contagious illness. From the 1st of January 1935 all dead people of Gharb and St Lawrence started getting buried in this cemetery. On the 29th July 1942 the Church and even the cemetery were greatly damaged by German bombs. After Gharb became a parish the villagers needed to plan a new church. On the 27th September 1698 the Grandmaster gave permission and choose the site called ‘ta’ Nawrata’. Architect Guzeppi Azzoppardi known as ‘Iż-Żgħir’ from Birgu Malta was the one who made the plans. The builder Dijonisju Carnemolla from Għarb began the works and encouraged everyone to help in the building of the new church. In 1699 the parish priest, Fr Gamri Camilleri with the permission of