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Mgarr ix-Xini

The port of 'ix-Xatt l-Ahmar' is situated on the other side of 'Ras it-Tafal' with Fort Chambray towering on the clay slopes. To the west of this bay, at the western-most limits of the village, there is Mgarr ix-Xini. It can be reached by proceeding left past the Gozo Heliport and, at a certain point, down the lane going towards the promontory known as Ras il-Hobz.

This bay was used by Turkish raiders in raids on Gozo, especially the famous raid of 1551, when according to historians, the whole population was carried off into slavery. At the end of the sixteen century a Tower was built to safeguard this inlet. The tower is now know as 'It-torri tal-Mgarr ix-Xini'. It was built at the expense of the local Universitas on a plan by Mederico Blondel, an engineer of the Order of Saint John. Its estimated cost was 857 Scudi. The tower was functioning by June 1661, when it artillery and gunpowder were provided by the Order. It was manned by a castellan and a professional bombardier, both of whom were salaried by the Universitas. This tower could send and receive communication from the Comino Tower and from that the Santa Cecilja Tower.

The tower, with the entrance landward, has two floors with one room each. The lower room has a ceiling arched stone corbels, two small windows and a hatch leading to the upper or main room. This was the living and all-purpose room of the guards. The room has a strongly built vaulted ceiling to withstand enemy cannon ball. A winding spiral staircase leads to the roof. On the roof there was a gun platform enclosed by its embrasured parapet. On the landward side, there was also a small powder magazine and a guardroom, the latter a unique feature in that location. These are now half dismantled. However this tower was not adequate and a bigger tower was built inland on the hill overlooking the bay where today the main Gozo highway passes known as the Tower of St Cecilja. The tower was restored during the year 2000 by the Ministry for Gozo and Wirt Ghawdex.

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