Għarb, the western village where the sun sets on Gozo

Għarb is where Gozo runs out in the west, and you can feel it. Stone houses draped in bougainvillaea, a square dominated by a baroque basilica, traditional trades still going strong and farmland that ends in cliffs. The Ministry for Gozo says this is where the sun sets on the island, and it has a point.

An Arabic name for the village in the west

L-Għarb means west in Arabic, and the name suggests an organised community existed here during Arab rule, between 870 and 1090. It’s one of Gozo’s oldest villages. Excavations have turned up Neolithic and Bronze Age remains, though nothing is visible today, and Phoenicians, Romans and Byzantines all passed through. The NSO put its population at 1,592 at the end of 2025.

According to the Ministry, it was an almost entirely farming village until very recently, with its own Maltese dialect full of old words the rest of the country dropped long ago. Locals are known as craftspeople, above all for the ‘Sikkina tal-Għarb’, a traditional razor-sharp knife, and there are still blacksmiths, locksmiths, weavers, lacemakers, carpenters and basket makers. Għarb’s shepherds, the Ministry reckons, make the best cheese on Gozo.

The Basilica of the Visitation and its museum

The square is watched over by the collegiate Basilica of the Visitation, built in 1699 and consecrated in 1729, and dedicated to the Virgin’s visit to her cousin St Elizabeth. Għarb has been a parish since 1679, the second-oldest village parish on Gozo. For fifty years before that, the old church known as Taż-Żejt served the parish, named after the legend of an old woman cured by oil seeping from its wall.

In the same complex is the Ecclesia Mater Museum, with sacred art and objects that tell the village’s story. There’s Punic pottery found nearby, Arabic and Jewish coins, a papal bull from 1774, church silver including a collection of oil lamps unique on Gozo, a font brought from Mdina Cathedral and more than twenty paintings. The Ministry doesn’t publish opening hours or a price.

What’s around Għarb?

Plenty, and most of it within walking distance. Just outside the village stands the Ta’ Pinu Basilica, and Karmni Grima, the woman who heard the Virgin’s voice there in 1883, was from Għarb. Opposite, Ta’ Għammar hill has a steep path lined with white marble Stations of the Cross. The Ta’ Dbieġi Crafts Village is also nearby, with mouth-blown glass, lace, pottery and filigree.

Heading out towards the cliffs you’ll find St Demetrius’ Chapel, the westernmost on Gozo. It dates from the 15th century, was rebuilt in 1736 and holds the legend of Żgugina, a mother whose son was carried off by corsairs and who, so the story goes, was rescued by the saint riding out of the painting on horseback. The area hosts a yearly kite and wind festival, and the chapel is on the Ta’ Ġurdan walk, about 10 kilometres long.

The rock window at Wied il-Mielaħ

If there’s one reason to detour to Għarb even if churches leave you cold, this is it. Follow the lane down the Wied il-Mielaħ valley, through fertile fields, and you reach the sea and a natural rock arch that’s still standing. According to the Ministry, few people knew it while the Azure Window stood, and it became famous after that arch collapsed in 2017. It’s easy to reach by road, and recent works have made it more accessible.

1565, the festa and the sunset

Għarb has its place in military history too. During the Great Siege of 1565, its lookouts were the first to send smoke signals announcing the relief force from Sicily for the besieged Knights. The village also remembers Frenċ Mercieca, known as Frenċ tal-Għarb (1892-1967), a healer who used herbs and prayed to Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu.

The feast of the Visitation is held on the first weekend of July, and in 2026 it fell on the 5th. The highlight is the ‘infiorata’, a carpet of flowers laid on the square. For somewhere to stay, the Ministry mentions cosy B&Bs and luxury villas, and out in the countryside there’s a winery offering tastings. Without a car, route 312 runs from Victoria bus terminal to Għarb.