Location: Island of Gozo < Malta
Nearest Beach:
beach at 2.0
Kilometres
Car: recommended
A short walk from Villa Xini leads down the valley of Mgarr ix-Xini (meaning 'the galley's landing place'). The swimming in the small fjord at the bottom of the steep single track is clean and suitable for children. The waters are dark, deep and clear against the sheer cliff face, offering excellent diving and snorkelling.
Xewkija is famous for its parish church to St. John the Baptist, known simply as 'the Rotunda'. Not only does it dominate the village, it dominates the entire island. The village has an eccentrically suburban air for an agricultural community. Men on ancient lilac-colored vespas roar nosily through the narrow twisting medieval streets wearing soup-bowl helmets and shot guns slung across their backs; a handful of people too old to work the fields sit beside their bamboo-slatted front doors awaiting the cool of the day, while tourists gawp at their cathedral-sized church. The single-most impressive feature is the dome, a 45,000 -ton structure set on eight columns.