Mġarr ix-Xini, the cove hidden at the bottom of the gorge

Mġarr ix-Xini is one of the places on Gozo that pulls me most, and it’s not really about the water. It’s about how you get there. You drop down a ravine between dry hillsides until the sea appears, squeezed between two rock walls, with a Knights’ tower keeping watch at the mouth. It feels like a fjord shrunk to Mediterranean scale.

A galley refuge, and a grim chapter in 1551

The inlet has more history than its size suggests. The Ministry for Gozo says it served as an occasional refuge for the galleys of the Knights of Malta, and that in 1551, during the most devastating raid the island ever suffered, Ottoman forces used it to load captured Gozitans onto their ships. That raid emptied Gozo, and this is where the ships were filled.

The tower at the mouth of the cove was put up by the Order in the 17th century. One Ministry page says 1661 and one of its articles says 1658-59, so I’ll settle for the century. Volunteers from Wirt Għawdex look after it, and it has recently gained information panels inside and, on the roof, panels explaining the view in each direction. After sunset, solar lights illuminate it for a few hours, though it isn’t open then.

How do you get down to Mġarr ix-Xini?

There are two ways. By car, a narrow and steep road runs along the edge of the gorge from Xewkija, and I’d only take it in a small car with no rush. On foot, the valley is the route. The Ministry includes it among Gozo’s ten best valleys and describes a deep ravine between Sannat and Xewkija that ends in a view of the channel and Comino, framed by the tower.

My advice is to walk down if the weather’s kind. A renovated path also links the cove to the tower, so the walk carries on once you’re at the bottom. In winter and spring the gorge is used for abseiling as well.

Swimming, snorkelling and diving after dark

Most people come here to swim. Underwater caves in the cliff walls draw divers from abroad, and the Ministry recommends the cove for night dives because it’s sheltered and fairly shallow. If you dive, my page on diving in Malta covers how licensed centres work.

As for facilities at the bottom, the official pages I’ve read are silent. No kiosks, no sunbeds, no toilets, so I’d take water, something to eat and shoes for the rocks, and head back up before dark if I’d walked down.

The tower on Sunday mornings

According to the Ministry for Gozo, the tower opens on Sundays from 10:30 to 12:30, weather permitting, and you’ll know it’s open because the Wirt Għawdex flag is flying on the roof. The article isn’t dated, so I’d treat it as a guide and look for the flag when you arrive. No entry price is published.

By the Sea, and the rest of the south coast

Mġarr ix-Xini became known well beyond Malta when Angelina Jolie filmed By the Sea here with Brad Pitt. For the islands’ other screen locations, see films shot in Malta.

To round off the day, the Xewkija Rotunda is a few minutes back up the road, and the Ta’ Ċenċ plateau sits on the far side of the gorge. With those three stops you’ve covered the south of Gozo in a day.

1551, seen from the cove

To understand why this inlet weighs so heavily in Gozitan memory, you have to go up to the Citadel in Victoria. The Ministry for Gozo explains that after the Ottoman raid of 1551 the island’s population, around 5,000 people, was carried off into slavery apart from 40 elderly and infirm, and that until 1637 Gozitans were legally required to spend the night inside the Ċittadella. Mġarr ix-Xini is where the loaded ships set sail.

The 17th-century tower grew out of that fear. From its roof you could watch the channel between Gozo and Comino, and today it’s the best vantage point for making sense of the south coast. I’d go up even for a short while and take time over the rooftop panels, which explain each view.