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Mgarr
is known as the gateway to Gozo. The harbour is dominated by a
neo-gothic monument, the Lourdes Church built in 1888. Some years
earlier, a visitor to the area remarked that the rocks of the hill
where the church now stands, resembled those of the Grotto of Massabielle in Lourdes, France. A statue of Our Lady of Lourdes
soon appeared in the rocks. Soon after WW2 ended a marble altar
was added to the imposing church. From here there are commanding
views of the harbour. To the left of the church is Fort Chambrai,
designed by military engineer de Tigne in 1723. Work was started
only in 1749 by the Knight de Chambrai, who was later to become
Commander of the Galleys and then Governor of Gozo. This was the
last fortification built by the Knights, and the only active service it
saw was during the resistance to the French occupation of the islands in
1798. Fort Chambrai never became a city. |
