New & now
Nostalgia alert! Check out a far calmer Mgarr Harbour from the early 1980s
It’s safe to say that the Mgarr Harbour was way less busy back then.

Emma Galea

Crossing the Malta-Gozo channel is a part of thousands of people’s daily routine nowadays.

Having said that, back when demand for cross-island travel was relatively smaller, the Mgarr Harbour needed to accommodate way less passengers and thus, looked rather different.

An old image, shared by a certain Mario Grech, shows a side to the Mgarr Harbour that many of us don’t recall.

The early 1980s shot depicts a much calmer and way less busy harbour. Having said that, Gozo had already started feeling the need for a bigger harbour ready to accommodate more ships.

Such demand, in fact, resulted in the building of a new quay in 1985. This was done in order to offer the MV Cittadella a place to dock once it started operating in 1987.

Perhaps the most noticeable difference between today’s Mgarr Harbour and the one in the early 1980s is the yacht marina, which was still non-existent back then.

One commenter noted how she used to walk down the piers every Sunday afternoon, eating pastizzi and sipping on a Kinnie.

Do you remember the Mgarr Harbour looking like this?

Facebook/Mario Grech

6th June 2022


Emma Galea
Written by
Emma Galea
Emma is a Gozitan writer who loves all things related to English literature and history. When not busy studying or writing you will either find her immersed in a fictional book or at the cinema trying to watch as many films as she possibly can!

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