Royal Beach Club Santorini
Plan your visit
The walls are open and free at all hours. The visitor centre and museums charge a small fee, and Victoria's bus terminus is a short walk below.
About this place
The Citadel, or Ċittadella, crowns the hill at the centre of Gozo, and you can see it from almost anywhere on the island. People have lived on the hilltop since the Bronze Age, and for centuries Gozitans sheltered behind its walls when raiders came. In 1551 an Ottoman force took the citadel and enslaved most of those inside, and the Knights of St John rebuilt the walls as bastions in the early 1600s.
Inside, the Cathedral of the Assumption was designed by Lorenzo Gafà and finished in the early 1700s. Its dome is an illusion: the roof is flat, and the dome is painted on the ceiling. Around it, small museums, the old prison and a visitor centre with a short film tell the island's story.
The best part is free. Walk the ramparts for sweeping views over Victoria, the patchwork of fields and the church domes of the villages across Gozo.
Worth the climb for the sweeping views from the walls alone. The museums are a bonus if you have time.
Location
Find The Citadel
The Citadel stands on the hill above Victoria, also called Rabat, in the middle of Gozo.
Coordinates: 36.0466° N · 14.2394° E
Featured in
Where you'll see it in our videos
Travel series
Celebrity Xcel Med
This series follows our seven-night Mediterranean sailing aboard Celebrity Xcel, beginning in Athens and ending in Barcelona. Along the way, we explore Santorini, Mykonos, Ephesus and Valletta, with two sea days to slow down and enjoy the ship.
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