It Happened In Gozo 1 - Rape and Murder

The Mysterious Disappearance and Murder of a Young Girl

This is the tragic story I heard many a time in my young days. Her name was Cenca (Chencha), a beautiful girl of 13 who disappeared mysteriously one evening way back in the early 1900's.

Her mother sent her to the grocer on an errand and she never returned home. The general opinion was that she was kidnapped and carried to a house not far from her home where she was murdered. In those days the streets of Victoria were lighted by a few kerosene lanterns which only produced a small circle of light directly beneath them. It was easy for a man to hide in a doorway and remain unseen as long as he wanted. Furthermore the streets were deserted in the evenings since the locals were accustomed to stay in and sleep early so as to wake up with the lark in the morning fresh and ready to attend to their chores at home before going out to work. Life was hard in those days. For many the early morning house chores were related to the few animals they kept at home, like chickens, rabbits and maybe a few goats and sheep and the occasional cow.

The murderer had another factor in his favour. About 80 years ago, the women-folk in Malta and Gozo wore the 'ghonella' (on nel lah) whenever they went out. Also known as a 'faldetta', it was generally made of black satin and was a kind of a veil-cloak garment that covered the body from head to below the knee. It was open at the front but could be kept closed at will. It was very unwieldy especially in a breeze when it acted like a sail. They wore it in the morning and in the evening, when they went to church and to the market and on special occasions such as a wedding or a baptism they wore a more elaborate silk 'ghonella'. The murderer could have deceived Cenca, poor girl by putting on an 'ghonella' to make her think that she was approaching a woman.

The man (many believed it was a man) probably took her by surprise as she passed him, easily overpowered her, covered her mouth and ran to his house with her. What happened there one can only imagine but since her body was never found nothing is certain. However, the man must have killed her in the end and buried her in his own house, maybe in a cellar or behind a wall. Who knows, maybe one day some evidence of her ordeal would be uncovered and the tragic story of Cenca would be a mystery no more. God rest her soul in Peace.

The police were unable to solve the crime. What drove the man to murder? The motive was not vendetta or revenge since the father and the mother were simple people and had no enemies. It was not for money either, because the parents were poor like most of the other families, so many are of the opinion that the murder was in all probability a sex-driven one. Would it have been avoided if Cenca's mother had not sent her out alone that night? Who knows?

More Ancient History

Phoenician History & Culture

Between the period of 1200 B.C. and 900 B.C. there was no major military power in Mesopotamia. Therefore smaller states like Phoenicia and the Hebrew kingdom were able to prosper. These kingdoms especially the Phoenicians started to trade throughout the Mediterranean region.
Phoenicia is the Greek name for the country and people living on the coast of Syria in ancient times at the east end of the Mediterranean Sea. It is believed that economic opportunity and population pressures forced them out into the seas. The Phoenicians colonized many areas
along the Mediterranean Sea. Areas where their colonies have been found are Sardinia, Cyprus, Malta and Carthage, the most important and lasting colony. They were superior by far to all the peoples of that time in seamanship.

Legend has it that an Egyptian pharaoh hired a band of Phoenicians to map and circumnavigate the coast of Africa. They are best remembered for their contributions in the establishment to trade with the many peoples living along the Mediterranean Coast line. The Greeks received their alphabet from them between the 15th and the 10th century B.C. The shape and make of the Maltese Luzzu is said to have been coming down from the time of the Phoenicians and the same can be said of the wooden boat-building craftsmanship still practiced today. Other antiquities attributed to the Phoenicians include carved ivories to be used in furniture, metalwork, and especially glassware.

Tyre was the major region for the purple dye industry, which probably began as early as the 18th century B.C. The dye was carefully extracted, a few drops at a time from the murex, a shell-fish found in the waters of Tyre and Sidon. The process used to extract the fluid was so difficult and so expensive that only the rich could afford to buy the dyed fabric. It is because of this Phoenician fabric that we still use the expression "born in the purple" to mean one who is born rich.
The Mediterranean Sea allowed the Phoenicians to wander, to explore, and to discover. It was their link to a world that awaited their skill and their art. These fine merchants brought their dye, fabric, ceramics, glass, metals, wine, crops, and oil from port to port. They became the world's finest maritime nation. The Phoenicians were not only adventurous merchants but expert sailors and navigators as well. They colonized parts of Cyprus, Rhodes, and the Aegean Islands. Phoenician sailors journeyed east to the Black Sea and west to places such as Corinth, Thebes, Sardinia, Palermo, Marseille, Corsica, and Malta. They were known to have gone as far as Gibraltar and Cadiz in Spain. By about 1000 B.C., they had finally reached the Atlantic Ocean. The Greeks were influenced in their navigation by the Phoenicians, who taught them to sail by the North star. The Greeks have designs on their ships similar to those from Phoenician models.

Top Retirement Destination-Gozo

Why is Gozo ideal for a Winter Holiday or even the best place to settle in for good? Malta, Gozo and Comino form the Maltese Archipelago situated right in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea, sixty nautical miles below the toe of Sicily.

Malta is the smallest member of the European Union both in size and population and there are many people in the world who have never yet heard of it. Malta and Gozo do not have any natural resources, in the strict sense of the word, such as gas, oil and iron ore, not even enough water.

When the Knights of St. John (bless their souls) first arrived in Malta in the mid-1500s this was their first disappointing finding, no water. However, having no other choice they made Malta and Gozo their home and left us their culture, customs and a wealthy heritage of baroque buildings, churches and auberges.

Nature however has not left our nation totally destitute of resources. In Malta we have a flexible work force, our natural environment which includes the countryside, the sea and the coastline and above all our climate, typical Mediterranean with its long hot summers and mild short winters. The Maltese climate is a valuable asset indeed which if expertly harnessed should contribute in no small way to the Islands economy.

I keep wondering why we do not have many more Winter visitors to our Islands. Winter in Malta is not cruel at all, not really cold. Temperatures rarely go below 17 or 16 degrees. Rainfall days are few and far between. In general just putting on a sweater is enough to keep warm. We have many sunshine days all the year round when the sun is really warm and welcoming. And what is more pleasant than a beautiful sunny day under a blue sky with just a cool breeze in November or December or even in January and February which are supposed to be our main rainfall months. Excellent weather to go for a country walk or go biking along the country lanes.

And Gozo is special, the smaller sister Island of Malta just 8 kilometers away by Ferry. It is this small stretch of sea that gives Gozo its allure and its special character. It is more rugged than Malta, greener and more primitive in some ways - - such as you arrive by car in one of the smaller villages at 8.30 in the morning and you do not see one living soul in the main square opposite the parish church. Not a sound anywhere. And this on a fine day, not rainy or stormy at all. Where else in the world can you still expect to find such peaceful and quiet surroundings!

As soon as one sets foot on Gozo, one is at once aware of the friendliness of the inhabitants. Anyone can tell you that. The prevalent clean atmosphere and fresh invigorating air must be owing first of all to the complete absence of smoking factory chimneys and secondly to the small size of the island. Gozo is only 9 miles by 5 and a slight breeze can sweep the island from end to end thus clearing the atmosphere and continually renew the flow of air.

In my opinion, the excellent winter weather conditions together with the fresh invigorating atmosphere surrounding the island, make Gozo the ideal destination for those senior citizens who would prefer a long stay away from the cold bitter winters of Northern Europe and for many others who dream of a sojourn in peaceful and quiet surroundings.



I like to write about Gozo my Island Home and about other things as well. My Twitter page is :http://www.twitter.com/joeattard if you'd like to talk about Gozo and Malta or anything else:)

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Let's Start with a Little Note on History

Malta is home to the oldest freestanding structure in the world, the oldest of which is the megalithic temple il-Ġgantija, in Gozo (Għawdex) dating back to before 3500 BC. This would be one thousand years before the pyramids. The outter walls stand six metres tall. Folklore has it that a female giant called "Sunsuna" carried the rocks on her head from a place in Gozo called Ta' Cenc. She is supposed to have lived on a diet of Broad Beans, called ''Ful'' in Maltese. Another very early temple is that of Ħaġar Qim, which dates from between 3200 and 2500 BC. It stands on a hilltop on the southern edge of the island of Malta and adjacent to this temple lies another remarkable site known as l-Imnajdra.

Then we know of the Phoenicians who colonized the islands around 700 BC, using our harbours as an outpost from which they expanded their sea exploration and trade in the Mediterranean.

Later after the fall of Tyre, the islands came under the control of Carthage (400 BC), a former Phoenician colony, and then following the defeat of Carthage by the Romans our Islands fell under the rule of Rome (218 BC). The islands prospered under Roman rule, during which time they were considered a Municipium and a Foederata Civitas. Roman remains still exist today, a sign of the close links between the Maltese inhabitants and the people of Rome. The island was a favorite spot among the Roman soldiers as a place in which to retire from active service. In AD 60, the islands were visited by Saint Paul, by God's intervention. Paul is believed to have been shipwrecked on the shores of the aptly-named Saint Paul's Bay (San Pawl il-Baħar. He converted the inhabitants to Christianity and annointed Publius as the first bishop of the Maltese Islands.

After a period of Byzantine rule (fourth to ninth century) and a probable sack by the Vandals, the islands were conquered by the Arabs in AD 870. The Arabs, who generally tolerated the population's Christianity, introduced the cultivation of citrus fruits and cotton, and irrigation systems. Arab influence can be seen most prominently in the modern Maltese language, a Semitic language which also contains significant Romance influences, and is written in a variation of the Latin alphabet.

The period of Arab rule lasted until 1091, when the islands were taken by the Siculo-Normans. For their help in the struggle the Maltese were rewarded by Count Roger who gave them a white and red strip of his own flag. Subsequent rulers included the Angevins and the Aragonese, who reconstituted a County of Malta in 1283.

In 1530 the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Spain gave the islands to the Order of Knights Hospitalers of St John of Jerusalem in perpetual lease. The knights, a military religious order now known as the "Knights of Malta", had been driven out of Rhodes by the Ottoman Empire in 1522. in 1565. aided by the Maltese they withstood a full-blown siege by the Ottoman Turks, who at that time were the greatest naval power in the Mediterranean. They later increased the fortifications, particularly in the inner-harbour area, where the new city of Valletta, named after Grand Master Jean de la Valette, was built.


In 1798 the reign of the Knights came to an end when Malta was captured by Napoleon en route to his conquest of Egypt during the French Revolutionary Wars. As a ruse, Napoleon requested safe passage into the harbour to resupply his ships but then turned his guns against his hosts once safely inside Valletta. The Grand Master knew that he could only allow a few ships at a time to enter the harbour, according to the Treaty of Trent but Grand Master Ferdinand von Hompesch capitulated and the Island passed to Napoleon who only stayed in Malta for a few days. He established an administration controlled by his nominees and then sailed for Egypt, leaving a substantial garrison in Malta.

The occupying French forces were very unpopular due particularly to their negative attitude towards religion. Their financial and religious reforms did not go down well with the citizens. The Maltese rebelled against them, and the French were forced behind the fortifications. Great Britain, along with the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, sent munitions and aid to the rebels. Britain sent her navy, which instigated a blockade of the islands. The isolated French forces, under General Vaubois, surrendered in 1800, and the island became a British Dominion, willingly presented to Sir Alexander Ball by the then Maltese leaders.

In 1814, as part of the Treaty of Paris, Malta officially became part of the British Empire, and owing to its central position between Gibraltar and the Suez Canal it was used as a shipping station and fleet headquarters. Malta's geographical position proved to be its main asset during these years, and it was considered to be an important stop for ships on their way to India.