Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1541318
6 gozotoday | FRIDAY • 14 NOVEMBER 2025 NEWS Victoria or Rabat? Gozo's cultural capital AS Gozo's capital city celebrates its pre-selection as Gozo's candidate for the 2031 European Capital of Culture, a de- bate has resurfaced about what the town should be called. The application was submitted under the name, Victoria, but some argue it should have been Rabat, the name many locals still use in everyday conversation. The controversy gained traction on so- cial media shortly after the announce- ment. While most people expressed pride that Victoria could represent Malta on a European stage, others took issue with the use of "Victoria," describing it as a colonial label inherited from British rule. Gozo-born photographer Daniel Cilia was among those who responded publicly. In a Facebook post that quickly circulated across local groups, Cilia congratulated those involved in the bid but reminded readers that the name Victoria was not imposed by the British, as some claim. He explained that in 1887, it was the people of Gozo themselves who petitioned to name their town Victoria, in honour of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. In his post, Cilia wrote that the name was "chosen by our forefathers, not by the English," and that it was "considered an honour that the town should bear the name of the Queen of the British Empire." He also clarified that Rabat was histori- cally a suburb of the Terra, the Castrum or Cittadella, whereas Victoria refers to the wider area that includes Rabat and the outlying districts surrounding the old fortified centre. When GozoToday met to discuss his post, Cilia explained that the name change reflected both ambition and iden- tity rather than subservience to colonial power. "We've always been ambitious," he said. "Gozo, being smaller, has always wanted to assert itself. The old city was the Cittadella, our version of the Medina. Naming the wider town Victoria was part of a broader effort to recognise Gozo as a city in its own right." According to Cilia, the decision was not arbitrary. He said that, at the time, both in the British Empire and in Italy, a settle- ment could only be recognised as a city if it had a bishop and a cathedral. "It wasn't about population size," he said. "It was about having a bishopric. When Gozo became a diocese directly under Rome, that gave it a cathedral, and therefore the right to be called a city. Naming it Victo- ria came soon after, and it was something the locals had pushed for." He noted that the initiative came from Gozitan professionals, lawyers, doctors, and civic leaders, who signed a petition asking the British Governor to grant city status and name the town Victoria. "When the British authorities approved it, they declared that Her Majesty had graciously consented to the suburb of Rabat being declared a city and renamed Victoria," he said. "It was an honour that our forefathers sought out themselves." To many Gozitans, however, Rabat re- mained the name used in daily life. Cil- ia explained that even within Victoria, locals made distinctions between small neighbourhoods like il- Belliegħa, Rabat, Ta' Ċawla, and Wied Sara among others. He said these communities formed nat- urally over time as families-built homes near each other, creating small clusters that became mini-villages within the city. "When I was young, I lived in il-Belliegħa," he said. "My mother used to send me to my grandfather to Rabat. For us, saying 'I'm going to Vic- toria' from within Victoria just doesn't sound right. The names are part of our daily language and identity." Cilia believes that confusion over the name often stems from how people interpret the relationship between Victo- ria and Rabat. "Both Belliegħa and Rabat form part of Victo- ria, but Belliegħa isn't part of Rabat," he explained. "It's real- ly simple when you look at it that way. Rabat is the old core; Victoria is the city as a whole." He also pointed out that similar naming patterns exist in other parts of Malta and abroad. "In Malta, people still say 'mmorru il-Belt' in- stead of 'mmorru Valletta,'" he said. "It's Left: The Castello and the historic core of ir-Rabat's as depicted in Valperga's plan of 1670 with the four medieval parish churches of ir-Rabat highlighted Gozo-born photographer Daniel Cilia LAURA CALLEJA lcalleja@mediatoday.com.mt