# The Cittadella's Long Shadow: Gozo's Other Siege

An episode of [The Story of Malta: The Fortress Island of the Mediterranean — Fexingo History](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1895465859), 24 Aug 2026, 6:27.

Audio: https://audio.fexingo.com/history/the-story-of-malta/episode-0210.mp3

In 1551, the Ottoman corsair Dragut swept across Gozo, smaller neighbor of Malta, and dragged almost the entire population into slavery. This episode tells the story of the island's Cittadella — the ancient citadel that became the last refuge for thousands. We trace its origins from Phoenician and Roman times, through the medieval 'Gran Castello', to the desperate summer days when Gozo's governor, Galatian de Sesse, faced a choice between surrender and annihilation. We hear how the island's medieval walls crumbled under Ottoman cannon, how the Knights' Grand Master Juan de Homedes failed to send aid, and how the enslaved Gozitans were sold in the slave markets of Tripoli, their return decades later shaping Gozo's identity. Drawing on contemporary accounts, oral tradition, and archaeological evidence, Lucas and Luna uncover a siege that, though overshadowed by the Great Siege of 1565, left a deeper scar on the Maltese islands. A story of courage, betrayal, and the long shadow of captivity. #Gozo #Cittadella #Dragut #1551Siege #KnightsOfStJohn #OttomanEmpire #MedievalMalta #Slavery #GalatianDeSesse #JuanDeHomedes #MalteseHistory #Mediterranean #FortressIsland #IslandSiege #History #FexingoHistory #MedievalWarfare #Corsair Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

## Transcript

Lucas: So we've talked a lot about the Great Siege of 1565 — that epic showdown that made the Knights famous across Europe. But there's another siege, a decade and a half earlier, that cut far deeper into the islands' flesh. It happened on Gozo, the smaller island you can see from Malta's north coast on a clear day.
Luna: I don't think we've covered that one. What happened in 1551?
Lucas: Well, it's a story about a fortress that was supposed to protect everyone, but in the end, it couldn't. And it's about a choice that a governor had to make — surrender his people to slavery, or watch them die under cannon fire. The Cittadella, the ancient citadel on Gozo's highest hill, became the stage for one of the most painful chapters in Maltese history.
Lucas: Before we dive in — you know, we keep doing these episodes because we love this stuff, but it does take time to dig through the archives and get the details right. If you've been getting something out of these conversations, a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them.
Luna: Yeah, it's a small thing that adds up.
Lucas: So, the Cittadella — its roots go way back. There's evidence of settlement on that hill from the Bronze Age, but the fortifications you see today, they're the result of centuries of rebuilding. The Phoenicians, the Romans, the Arabs — they all left their mark. But by the time the Knights arrived in 1530, it was a medieval castle known as the Gran Castello, and it was already showing its age.
Luna: And the Knights didn't think to update it?
Lucas: They were focused on Malta proper, mainly on the Grand Harbour. Gozo was considered a secondary post — a breadbasket, really. The island supplied grain and cotton to the main island, but its defenses were neglected. The Cittadella's walls were medieval — high but thin, not built to withstand heavy artillery. And the governor at the time, a knight named Galatian de Sesse, he had fewer than a hundred men under his command.
Lucas: Enter Dragut. We've talked about him before — the Ottoman corsair who was arguably the most feared seaman in the Mediterranean. In July of 1551, he and his fleet swept past Gozo, and they weren't just passing through. They had already raided the coast of Sicily and taken some captives, but their main target was Malta itself, or possibly Gozo as a stepping stone.
Luna: So they landed on Gozo, and the whole population ran for the Cittadella?
Lucas: Exactly. Almost everyone on the island — thousands of people, maybe five thousand or more — crowded inside the walls. The Cittadella was the only refuge. But there was no time to stockpile food and water, and the cisterns were nowhere near enough. And the fortifications, well, they were not ready for a serious siege. Dragut brought his cannons ashore and set up positions on the high ground around the citadel.
Lucas: The bombardment started, and it was devastating. The thin medieval walls were breached within days. De Sesse sent desperate pleas to the Grand Master in Malta, Juan de Homedes, asking for relief. But de Homedes, who was not the most decisive of leaders, dithered. He was afraid of exposing Malta to attack if he stripped its defenses. So no help came.
Luna: That's brutal. So the governor had no choice but to surrender?
Lucas: Not exactly. There was a debate. Some of the knights and soldiers wanted to fight to the death, to sell their lives dearly. But de Sesse was responsible for the civilians — women, children, the elderly. And there was no water, no hope of relief. So he negotiated a surrender with Dragut. The terms were simple: the lives of the defenders would be spared, but the entire population of Gozo would be taken as slaves.
Lucas: It was a devastating outcome. Nearly the entire population of Gozo — perhaps five thousand people — were herded onto Dragut's ships and taken to Tripoli, which was then an Ottoman stronghold. There, they were sold in the slave markets. Many ended up in the bagnios, the slave prisons we talked about in our episode on the ransom. It was a human catastrophe that emptied the island.
Luna: So Gozo was basically deserted for years?
Lucas: Not completely, but almost. A few hundred managed to hide in the countryside, in caves and remote valleys. And over the following years, the Knights repopulated the island with settlers from Malta and even from other parts of Europe, offering land and privileges to attract new families. But the memory of the 1551 abduction never faded. It's still part of Gozo's collective memory — a scar that shaped the island's identity.
Lucas: There's also the long aftermath. Some of the captives eventually returned through the Monte di Redenzione, the redemption fund that we talked about in the episode on the Barbary slave trade. But many never came home. And the Cittadella itself was completely rebuilt in the decades after, its walls thickened and lowered to withstand cannon fire. That's the fortress you see today when you walk up to the old city.
Luna: It's incredible how one event can change the fate of an entire island. And the fact that it's so overshadowed by 1565...
Lucas: Exactly. The Great Siege became the symbol of the Knights' triumph, but 1551 was a reminder of their vulnerability. It also exposed the flaws in their strategy — they had concentrated their defenses on the Grand Harbour and left their flank open. In a way, the lessons learned from Gozo's fall directly influenced the decisions made in 1565, when they finally fortified the peninsula that became Valletta.
Luna: So the Cittadella's story is not just about loss, but about how that loss shaped the future.
Lucas: Exactly. And when you stand on those walls today, looking out over the Gozo countryside, you can almost hear the echoes of that summer — the crack of cannon fire, the cries of the people crammed inside, the despair of the surrender. It's a powerful place, and it holds a story that deserves to be remembered.

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