Fontana Village, Gozo

Fontana a small village on the island of Gozo, Malta, which is inhabited by less than a thousand people. This village is picturesque as it rises along the hillside which from the south of the town of Victoria slopes down in the direction of Wied Siekel, that is, Siekel Valley, on the eastern side, and Wied il-Lunzjata, Lunzjata Valley, on the western side. Yet the village is closely associated with water springs, rather than the valley. In fact, its local name is “It-Triq tal-Għajn”, the way to the spring, as there is a spring at the end of the road. At times, people can still be found washing their clothes at the Fontana spring.

Arches were built in the sixteenth century over the springs for the convenience of people when washing their clothes, as a very old irrigation system made up from stone gutters constantly brings water from a spring situated in the Kerċem part of the valley. The existing building of the spring was raised in 1685 by Gasparre Azzopardi. This building contains three coats of arms all next to each other. One represents the Azzopardi family, the second one belongs to Grand Master Gregorio Caraffa (1680 – 1690), while the third one pertains to the Universita’ that paid for the expenses of the building. Next to the springs, there are WWII shelters, which started at the Springs and ended on a cliff overlooking Fontana.