# Malta's Cittadella: The Citadel of Gozo's Long Siege

An episode of [The Story of Malta: The Fortress Island of the Mediterranean — Fexingo History](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1895465859), 9 Aug 2026, 8:13.

Audio: https://audio.fexingo.com/history/the-story-of-malta/episode-0195.mp3

This episode explores the Citadel of Gozo, the fortified heart of the island of Gozo, from its Bronze Age origins to its role in the Great Siege of 1551. We trace its development under the Knights of St. John, the devastating Ottoman raid that enslaved most of Gozo's population, and the citadel's later transformation into a refuge. We also look at the bastioned walls added after the 1551 disaster, the cathedral within its walls, and what life was like for the people who sought shelter there. Along the way, we consider the citadel's place in Maltese identity, its restoration today, and the legends that cling to its stones. Expect names like Dragut, Grand Master Juan de Homedes, and the architect Girolamo Cassar, as well as a visit to the Old Prison and the Gozo Museum of Archaeology. #Cittadella #Gozo #MaltaHistory #Dragut #KnightsOfStJohn #GirolamoCassar #JuanDeHomedes #1551Raid #SiegeOfGozo #Fortifications #OldPrison #GozoMuseum #Mediterranean #Renaissance #MilitaryHistory #IslandHistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

## Transcript

Lucas: So after all the episodes we've done on Malta, we haven't really given Gozo its due. We touched on the Ġgantija temples in episode 194, but the island has a whole other layer of history, and at the center of it is this massive fortified hilltop called the Cittadella.
Luna: The Cittadella — that's the castle on the hill you can see from all over Gozo, right?
Lucas: Exactly. And it's not just a medieval castle — its roots go back thousands of years. The hill has been inhabited since at least the Bronze Age, so around 1500 BC, and probably even earlier. The Romans had a settlement there, and then the Arabs, and then the Normans, and by the time the Knights of St John took over Malta in 1530, it was already a fortified town, called the Gran Castello, with a whole community living inside.
Luna: So it was like a small fortified city, not just a military fort.
Lucas: Right. In fact, in the fifteenth century, the entire population of Gozo lived within its walls — because piracy was such a constant threat that nobody dared to live in the open countryside. The Cittadella was their only real protection, and it was a tight squeeze. We're talking a few thousand people packed into a hilltop, with narrow streets and houses pressed up against the walls.
Lucas: But here's the thing — with that kind of population, the Cittadella was more like a refuge than a proper military stronghold. Its medieval walls were thin and old, and it didn't have enough cisterns to hold water for a long siege. That turned out to be a fatal weakness when the Ottomans showed up in the summer of 1551.
Luna: Oh, this is the raid where they took nearly the whole island into slavery, isn't it?
Lucas: That's the one. Led by the Ottoman admiral Dragut — Sinan Pasha was there too. They first tried to take Malta itself, but when that didn't work, they turned to Gozo. The Cittadella's governor, a knight named Galatian de Sesse, was hopelessly outnumbered — he had maybe a few hundred soldiers, while Dragut had thousands. And after a few days of bombardment and with no sign of relief from Malta, de Sesse surrendered. The Ottomans sacked the town, and the chronicles say they carried off almost the entire population of Gozo — somewhere between five and six thousand men, women, and children — into slavery. It was a total catastrophe.
Luna: That's heartbreaking. And the island was just left empty?
Lucas: Almost. The few who escaped — some hid in caves, some were old or sick — they were all that was left. The Knights had to actually repopulate Gozo by encouraging settlers from Malta and elsewhere, offering them land and privileges. So the people who live on Gozo today are largely descendants of those newcomers, not the original islanders.
Lucas: After that disaster, the Knights knew they couldn't leave Gozo so vulnerable again. So they brought in the military engineer Girolamo Cassar — the same guy who designed Valletta later — and had him rebuild the Cittadella's defenses. In the 1550s, they replaced the old medieval walls with massive bastions, ditches, and ravelins, turning it into a proper star fort that could resist cannon fire.
Luna: So the Cittadella we see today is mostly Cassar's work, not medieval.
Lucas: Actually, it's a bit of a mix. The lower bastions and the main gateway are from the sixteenth century, but the upper part, around the cathedral, still has a medieval feel — because the cathedral itself, which was originally a medieval church, was rebuilt after an earthquake in 1693. And then the British added their own touches in the nineteenth century, like the police station and the prison. So it's a real palimpsest of different eras.
Lucas: Inside the Cittadella, you've got the Gozo Museum of Archaeology, which has artifacts from the Neolithic right up to the medieval period. And there's the Old Prison, which was used from the sixteenth century until the 1970s — you can still see graffiti scratched into the walls by prisoners. And then there's the cathedral, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin, known locally as Santa Marija. It's not as grand as St. John's in Valletta, but it has its own charm, and it's built right on the site of a Roman temple, which was later a mosque during the Arab occupation.
Luna: A Roman temple, a mosque, and now a Christian cathedral — all on the same spot. That's layers of history right there.
Lucas: It really is. And the Cittadella played a key role again in 1798, when the French under Napoleon took Malta. The French garrison held the Cittadella, but the Gozitans revolted, and the French surrendered after a siege. Gozo actually became a semi-independent state for a couple of years, called the Gozitan Nation, until the British took over in 1800.
Luna: I didn't know Gozo had a brief moment of independence.
Lucas: It did, and it's something Gozitans are quite proud of. But after that, the Cittadella gradually lost its military importance. The British built new forts along the coast, and the town inside the Cittadella was slowly abandoned as people moved to the surrounding village of Rabat. By the twentieth century, it was mostly a ruin, a picturesque shell.
Lucas: In recent years, there's been a big restoration project, funded partly by the EU, to preserve the Cittadella and make it more accessible. They've restored the walls, the old houses, the prison, and the museum. So now you can walk the ramparts and get a sense of what it was like to be a soldier on watch, looking out for corsairs.
Luna: That's great — so it's not just a ruin, it's a living heritage site.
Lucas: Exactly, and that brings me to something that keeps the show going. We put a lot of research into these episodes, and listener support is genuinely what keeps us going. A couple of dollars a month at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo makes a real difference, especially for things like site visits and archival access. No pressure, but if you've gotten something out of our conversations, it's the single best way to make sure we can keep doing them.
Luna: Absolutely. And it helps us keep the show ad-free, which we love.
Lucas: So, back to the Cittadella — one of the most striking things when you visit is the view from the top. You can see the whole island of Gozo, and on a clear day, you can see Malta in the distance. It's easy to imagine why every power in the Mediterranean, from the Phoenicians to the British, wanted to control that spot.
Lucas: And the Cittadella is also the setting for one of Gozo's most famous legends. According to local tradition, when the Ottomans attacked in 1551, a group of women and children took refuge in a cave beneath the citadel. They were discovered, and rather than be captured, they chose to die by suffocating themselves. The cave is still pointed out to visitors, and it's known as the 'Għar ta' l-Istrixxa' — the Cave of the Stripes, though the origin of the name is murky.
Luna: That's a haunting story. Is it likely true?
Lucas: Historically, we can't verify it. But it's the kind of legend that gives the Cittadella a deeper emotional weight. You're not just looking at stone walls; you're aware of the human cost of all these sieges. And that's something that resonates even today.
Lucas: So, if you ever find yourself in Gozo, make the climb up to the Cittadella. Walk the ramparts, duck into the museum, and imagine what it would have been like to live your whole life inside those walls, always watching the horizon for sails. It's a powerful place, and it tells the story of Gozo's resilience in the face of invasion.
Luna: I might just have to put that on my own travel list.
Lucas: You won't regret it. And maybe we'll do another episode on Gozo — there's plenty more to uncover, like the ancient salt pans, the megalithic temples, and the unique dialect the Gozitans speak.
Luna: I'm all for that. But for now, I think we've given the Cittadella its due.

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