Heritage Malta operates the Old Prison which is located within the Gozo Citadel, adjacent to the Law Courts, a building to which it was originally connected, and overlooking Cathedral Square. In its present form it constitutes an entrance hall, which was used as a common cell during the nineteenth century, and a separate block of six individual prison cells. This prison served its function from the mid-sixteenth century down to the early twentieth century.
It is worth looking back at Gozo’s history as a place of imprisonment in order to appreciate better the context of the Old Prison and visualise its bygone function. The Maltese Islands have been used as a place of exile since antiquity, as supported by written evidence from the seventh century AD. The use of Gozo as a place of exile by foreign rulers is also reflected in the smaller island’s place-names. For example, the toponym “Gerduf” has been interpreted as denoting a place for the exile of foreign convicts.
The Knights of St John followed suit in utilizing Gozo as a location for deporting troublesome knights and civilians. Soon after their arrival in Malta, the Order made full use of Gozo by dispatching rowdier members to cool down in appropriate detention places, in particular those members of the Order who showed more pronounced signs of social danger. The island’s “normal” prison, that is, a building constructed for imprisonment purposes, was used in conjunction with a number of underground dungeons, very often referred to as guvas in written records of the period. Apart from these, the very insularity of the smaller island was exploited as a means of exile without bodily restraints for less severe offences, and for confining other problematic knights, including insane members, until the authorities decided what to do with them.
The list of notorious convicts confined in Gozo is quite lengthy, and the offences are themselves varied, the most common being duelling and murder. Duration of stays also varied depending on the gravity of the offence: stays could have lasted from a few months up to 10 years. The most famous inmate was surely Jean Parisot de la Valette, later grandmaster of Malta from 1557 to 1568. In 1538, while in his forties and a member of the Order, he was found guilty of using violence against a layman, and was condemned to four months in the Gozo guva, which were to be followed by two years exile in Tripoli to give him time to cool off his temper.
The Knights’ archives refer to the construction of a new prison in Gozo in 1548, prior to which a number of guvas were usually utilised for imprisonment. There were at least two guvas in Gozo, possibly even three, but their whereabouts remain unlocated. Nonetheless, there did exist an older prison on the smaller island, as supported by earlier evidence, precisely from 1535, when two members of the Order were sentenced to 12 and six months respectively “in carceribus gaudisii” after having been involved in a brawl. This is proof enough that the 1548 construction was not the first prison to be erected on Gozo. Whether this earlier prison was located on the same spot of the 1548 building, that is, the Old Prison under discussion remains to be discovered.
The free-standing block which is today open to visitors constitutes the older part of the prison complex, probably dating to 1548. The six individual cells are to be found at ground level, roofed in barrel vaults, and possessing separate cesspits. Interesting to note are the massive low doors with their heavy locks, still enjoying much of their originality. Even more interesting is the numerous graffiti which covers the prison walls, and offer a window into the lives of the incarcerated. The soft globigerina walls made it relatively easy for any convict to produce incisions with a pointed object. Graffiti come in various forms including handprints, representations of ships, stars of David, an assortment of crosses, numerals, flags, and other incisions.
As a block this building is screened off from the adjacent street by a six-metre high wall and was originally accessed by a short flight of steps (now demolished) leading from the first floor of the present Law Courts to the small yard adjacent to the prison cells. Alterations to the entire building were carried out during the early nineteenth century when a larger number of inmates required an increase in cells. A new wing was constructed above the older cells. The new cells on the first floor were modified yet again in the early twentieth century when they were partly demolished to make space for the Law Courts’ archives. In the mid-nineteenth century a larger prison was constructed on the other side of the Cathedral, now housed by the Crafts Centre.
The Old Prison is one of six Heritage Malta sites on the island of Gozo which are open to the public. It is open from Monday to Sunday, from 9am to 5pm (last admission 4.30pm). Visitors may purchase a Cittadella Day Ticket for Lm2.00/ e5.00 and also visit the Gozo Museum of Archaeology, the Natural Science Museum and the Folklore Museum. For further information call on 2156 5988, 2156 4188 or visit www.heritage
malta.org.
Article provided by Heritage Malta