Għajnsielem, the village that greets everyone arriving on Gozo

Għajnsielem has an image problem, which is that nearly everyone sees it through the window of the bus leaving the ferry. That’s a shame, because Gozo’s harbour village has one of the island’s most striking churches, a fort that was meant to be a city, a chapel perched above the harbour and a live nativity the Ministry for Gozo calls the highlight of its Christmas.

The village that includes the harbour and Comino

The Ministry for Gozo is clear about it. Mġarr harbour, where the ferries dock, is part of Għajnsielem and run by its local council. So is Comino. That’s why the statistics don’t separate them, and the 3,832 residents the NSO gives for the end of 2025 include both.

The name means peaceful spring, after the water source where Grand Master Perellos built an arcade with washbasins and spouts in 1700. As you sail into the harbour, the ministry points out three landmarks on the slope, the Lourdes chapel with its spire, Fort Chambray on the clifftop to the left and, further off, the parish church’s tall belfry.

The Loreto church and the flying statue

In the middle of the village stands the Church of Our Lady of Loreto, Lombard Gothic in style and built on a Latin-cross plan. Għajnsielem became a parish in 1855, and when the old church grew too small, work on this one began in 1924. It proceeded in fits and starts, with a world war in the way and four architects, and was completed with the blessing of the bell tower in June 1979. To me it’s one of the most recognisable silhouettes in southern Gozo.

The old church still stands on Independence Square, built from 1810 to 1820 and extended until 1877, with paintings by Giuseppe Calì. The statue of the Virgin arrived from Marseilles in 1866, commissioned by villagers in thanks for escaping the plague of 1865.

The Loreto festa is Gozo’s last feast of August, on the 30th in 2026, and has a reputation all its own. The Balzunetta quarter turns out dressed head to toe in the same patterned fabric, and the statue crosses the square hanging from a cable, re-enacting the Virgin’s house being flown to Loreto by angels. For Malta’s village feasts at their most theatrical, this is one to aim for.

Fort Chambray and the Xatt l-Aħmar coast

Fort Chambray, from the 18th century, was intended as Gozo’s Valletta, a fortified city that was never completed. It’s now a private residential complex, so you can’t go in, but from outside its walls there are views of Gozo’s southern cliffs, Xatt l-Aħmar and the North Comino Channel.

Follow the road down to Xatt l-Aħmar, a quiet stretch of rugged coast that the ministry recommends for snorkelling among colourful sea life and for diving the ships deliberately scuttled off Gozo’s south-east coast. Among them are the MV Cominoland and the MV Karwela, both sunk in 2006, for experienced divers.

Chapels, niches and the square of the apparition

Għajnsielem has more churches than just the parish one. The oldest is the chapel of St Cecilia, on the outskirts, dating from around 1540, beside the tower of the same name. In the old part of the village is Pjazza tad-Dehra, the square of the apparition, where Our Lady is believed to have spoken to a local shepherd, Anglu Grech. Wander around and you’ll spot religious niches from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, paid for by village families. For a walk, the ministry recommends the coastal route to Qala, with the Comino channel alongside.

Lourdes, the Franciscans and Ta’ Passi

The neo-Gothic Lourdes chapel sits on a promontory above the harbour. Its foundation stone was laid in 1888 and it opened in the summer of 1893. You can walk up from the harbour or from the village, and to my mind it’s the best spot to watch the ferry come in. Its feast is on 11 February.

St Anthony’s Franciscan friary is surrounded by a peaceful area with views over the channel, which the ministry recommends at sunrise or sunset. And at Christmas, at Ta’ Passi near Mġarr, Bethlehem f’Għajnsielem has been staged since 2008, a living nativity with a market, bakery, blacksmith, tavern and stable, run by the village’s associations. The 2026-27 dates haven’t been published yet; for planning a festive trip, my guide to Malta at Christmas will help.