Submit a photo
Submit a photo
Ninety seconds on Basilica of the Nativity of Our Lady
Masses run from early morning to evening on weekdays, and the parish publishes the current Mass times. A visit is best planned between services, and the parish is the contact for entry outside them.
The feast of the Nativity of Our Lady falls on 8 September each year in Xagħra, and its celebrations fill the village square, one of the largest on Gozo.
Yes, especially paired with Ġgantija, the temple complex in the same village. The basilica's facade and interior follow the baroque style common to most churches on these islands.
Inside Xagħra's basilica, you walk over coloured marble floors, past pilasters and under paintings and gilded cornices that run the full length of the vault.
The basilica dominates the central square of Xagħra. Locally the parish is known as Il-Bambina, after its dedication to the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, and the church is laid out as a Latin cross.
Outside, the two bell towers hold six bells, more than any other church on Gozo. The largest weighs 2778 kilograms, and the oldest was cast in 1770.
The church has a second local name, Il-Vitorja, or Our Lady of Victories, which comes from its feast day. The square in front takes its name, Pjazza il-Vitorja, from the same feast, and so does the village's Victory Band.
The parish was given the title of basilica in 1967.
Inside, look for the marble statue of the young Virgin, brought here from Marseilles in 1878.
Then find the two silver pieces that remain in the basilica: the chandelier that serves as the altar lamp, and the processional cross.
Ġgantija, the UNESCO-listed temple complex, is in the same village, and Ta' Kola Windmill is down the road from the temples, on a combined ticket with them. Xagħra is about ten minutes from Victoria by road, and twenty-five from the Mġarr ferry terminal.
Coffee or breakfast on the square before you go in makes an easy start to a day on Gozo.
If you come for the feast, the big fireworks night falls on the eve, and a concert opens the celebrations in the days before.
Explore the rest of Xagħra
Sails, millstones and the miller's living rooms survive in this windmill a short walk from Ġgantija, and the Ġgantija ticket covers it.…
Two megalithic temples older than the pyramids stand at the edge of the Xagħra plateau, their outer wall built of blocks taller than a…
A concrete statue of the risen Christ on this hill above Marsalforn can be seen from much of Gozo. Pieces of its storm-felled predecessor…
Red-orange sand fills this wide bay on the north coast, the largest sandy beach on Gozo, backed by protected dunes. The water shelves…
Visible from most of Gozo, this huge dome rises over Xewkija on the road between Victoria and the Mġarr ferry. The round nave inside is…
Look up inside: the cathedral has no real dome, and a painter turned the flat ceiling into a convincing one in perspective. The church…
Walls ring the top of a hill in the middle of Gozo, and the walk along the ramparts looks over almost the whole island. Entry to the walled…
Gozo's capital stands mid-island, with its main bus terminal and the walled Cittadella. Buses leave the terminal for destinations across…
Last updated