Walk under Fort Chambray in Gozo

Gozo is my little love affair. I’m always eagerly awaiting the next visit and I never want to leave. I love Gozo, because it’s like going back in time. Going back to basics. Appreciating the laid back atmosphere, greenery and beautiful scenery! Even though it’s still winter, mid January, the weather on the Maltese islands is pretty mild and last weekend we were blessed with some great weather! In Gozo at least! 🙂

I couldn’t do otherwise than ran out of bed and spent my Sunday morning walking around, reconnecting with nature and simply appreciating these peaceful moments.

I have heard so many times that the Maltese islands don’t have any greenery, but looking around I couldn’t see nothing but greenery! Yes, there aren’t as many trees and forests as I’m used to from the Czech Republic, but not really complaining.

Gozo has so many possibilities for a nice walk, but being it my last day on Malta’s sister island and on the way to the ferry, I thought I would stop by and check out the Fort Chambray that’s just overlooking the Mgrarr Harbour. We parked the car near the main road and found an off road (where you can drive with a car if you want to) exactly next to the Fort and started walking.

Fort Chambray is situated in the area of Ghajnsielem and was built in the mid-18th century by the Order of Saint John. The Fort was meant to be the new citadel and replace the old Cittadella as the island’s capital, but that never happened. The fort was used during the French invasion in June 1798 when the French landed in Gozo. In 1830 the fort was turned into a military hospital. Nearly 100 years later, in 1916, the military gave up the fort and from 1934 to 1983 it was used as a civilian mental hospital with up to 200 patients.

After doing some research it seems like that the Fort has been redeveloped into residential units, which are up for sale. If anyone is interested! All you need to do is google a little.  🙂

At this point I’m just underneath the Fort Chambray overlooking Comino. You might recognize the Santa Marija Tower on the horizon! Now look at the beautiful scenery and the diversity of the surroundings!  Looking to my right I had these pretty steep clay slopes (below), with some stunning views of the cliffs in the background. And on my left grassland with all the shades of green, finished off with a rocky coast.

Following the path and getting closer to the sea, I started getting a great view of the clay slopes I was just standing on. I love the heterogeneity of nature. Never the same. Never boring!

This wasn’t a very long walk. I could easily walk back up to my starting point if I had time, so looking at the picture below, with Fort Chambray in the distance, I was about half way there. I was rushing to get the ferry (which I missed by the way), so the entire walk didn’t take me more than 20mins.

As you can imagine, it was quiet and peaceful. I didn’t meet another person while walking. However I did see in a distance an off road biker, so be mindful of the fact, that some adrenaline bikers might cross your path. Rather than that no one should disturb your nice walk. 🙂

And here I’m! This is where the path with take you, directly next to the Gozo Ferry. And yes, in the distance is the ferry I was suppose to get on and which I missed by like 5 mins! I guess I should have checked the schedule, before I started the walk, I woudn’t have to rush so much! Haha!

And here I’m just saying bye to this gorgeous island, thanking for another great weekend and promising myself that I will be back soon!

On the map below I marked where I parked my car and started my walk. If you wish to, you can drive all the way to the viewing point, which looks like a drop from the satelite.

I will definitely be back, but next time I will walk all around it and check out the Lourdes Chapel on the way. 🙂