Mgarr Attractions

Castello Zammitello on the Gnejna road was built in the early 19th century as the honeymoon lodge of the noble Sant Cassia family. The family sold the lodge after the mysterious murder of the Count Sant Cassia on the Castello's doorstep in 1989. It has since been converted into a wedding chapel.

Egg Church in Mgarr was built in the 1930s from proceeds from the sale of parishioners eggs and vegetables. There is a large dome and tiny cupola, resembling an egg in a cup, which serve as reminders of its origins. The last detail was the painted second clock, its hands steadfastly fixed at two minutes before the devil's hour of midnight.

Fort Chambray is situated high above the harbor on the blue-clay Tafal Cliffs. Work began in 1749 and was completed in 1761. Since then, apart from a brief and spirited defense against the French on June 10, 1798, Fort Chambrey has had a checkered existence: first as an unpopular British garrison post, then as a mental institution, and finally as a tourist village.

Today it is a housing development.

Gnejna Bay is known as Mgarr's beach and is signposted three kilometers west of Mgarr, past Castello Zammitello. The sandy beach is ideal for children and the arc of multi-colored boathouses hollowed into the soft limestone cliff face add to the charm of this pretty bay. Above are the remains of the Lippia Tower, one of the four similar watchtowers built by Grand Master Lasceris in 1637.

One and a half kilometers from the hamlet of Manikata are the Roman Baths. Discovered in 1929 by farmers and excavated the same year, the baths were restored again in 1961 by UNESCO. The sparse remains show changing rooms, U-shaped communal lavatories, a small swimming pool, a cladarium built above a small furnace, a tepidarium, and a frigidarium (cold baths). The best-preserved of the mosaics are in the changing rooms and the tepidarium.

Near the police station are the historically significant temples. The site, which is fenced-in, was first excavated in 1925. The remains hint at two temples, one large and one small, on either side of a small courtyard, dating back to the Ggantija and Saflieni phases respectively.