Victoria or Rabat is the capital city of Gozo. The oldest part of this town is the Gran Castello, known also as Cittadella, an impregnable strategic point which owes its origins to classical times, and which was refortified by the Knights of the Order of St. John. This town is divided into two main areas-the Citadel or Castello and its suburb Rabat. The main square It-Tokk is the center of most commercial activities.

The most important building in this square is the old Town Hall, known also as the Banca Giuratale, built in 1733 and which served as the Commune where local administrative affairs were discussed. Nowadays thousands of Maltese and tourists alongside Gozitans flock to the open marker in this square searching for fresh fish, fruit, vegetables, Gozo cheeselets (Gbejniet), Gozo honey and Gozo wine, while in the narrow streets one finds shops selling Gozo Lace, knitwear and other souvenirs. This square is also one of Gozo meeting places.

Victoria is divided into two parishes, that of St. Mary or the Assumption with its Cathedral in the Cittadella, and the other is that of St. George with the Basilica Church. Rabat’s old town streets are quite narrow and twisty, typical of an Arab Medina. Nowadays, new buildings have sprung up in the surrounding areas of Victoria, while the confines of the locality expanded considerably over the past three decades. Rabat’s Cittadella is the oldest inhabited area in Gozo, and its origins date back to the Carthagenian times. Prior to that period the hill had already been inhabited by Bronze Age people. Certain excavations in the Tokk area indicated that people have been living on the hill since Borg in Nadur times. Following the victory against the Turks in the 1565 Great Siege, the Knights decided to reinforce the Cittadella vertical battlements. Until 1637, the Gozitan people were required by law to spend their nights within the Cittadella for their own safety.

 During more peaceful times the Gozitans started settling in the area around the Cittadella, which has been known as Rabat, suburb, since the Arab period. Over the centuries, many builtings inside the Cittadella fell into ruins, including important palaces. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of Queen Victoria’s accession to the throne in 1887, Malta commemorated the event by erecting a statue in her honour, whilst top Gozo dignitaries felt that this Jubilee should be commemorated in a more fitting manner.

A petition was formulated soliciting Her Majesty to concede that Rabat be specially declared a city and renamed “Victoria”. That same year, the Secretary of State for the Colonies informed the Gozitan authorities that the Queen has consented the title to the town of Rabat, and from then onwards, Rabat, became known as Victoria. However most Gozitans and Maltese today still refer to it as Rabat.

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