Gharb

Għarb means west and the village sits at that end of Gozo, a small settlement of limestone houses around a square with the church of the Visitation, a Baroque building of 1699-1729 with a concave facade unusual on the islands. A folklore museum occupies a sixteenth-century house on the square, with rooms of tools, trades and domestic objects. The lanes behind hold old farmhouses with carved niches and stone balconies.

History

The village grew from a medieval hamlet and became a parish in 1679, which led to the Baroque parish church built between 1699 and 1729, its facade compared to Borromini's Sant'Agnese in Piazza Navona in Rome. Legend says the first chapel of San Dimitri on the cliffs was built by a woman whose son was freed from captivity by St Demetrius (Wikipedia, Għarb).

Highlights

• The Visitation church - a Baroque church of 1699-1729 with a concave facade.
• The folklore museum - trades and domestic life in a sixteenth-century house.
• The street niches - carved devotional niches on the corners of the old houses.
• The farmhouse lanes - old limestone houses behind the square.

When to go

Year round; the village is quiet in any season. The festa falls in July. Museum hours are shorter in winter.

Things to know

It is very quiet and there is little beyond the church and the museum. The museum is small and dated in presentation. Facilities in the village are minimal.

Nearby

Ta' Pinu is nearby, and Dwejra is southwest.

Key facts