About Fontana [3 of 10]

The first houses of Fontana were built on and around il-Għajn il-Kbira, the principal spring. This early settlement is now known as ta’ Wied Siekel on one side, and as ta’ Għajn Tuta. Wied Siekel is very probably derived from that of the town of Scicli in Sicily. A family from Scicli, possibly Gozitan emigrants who returned home, took residence near the fountain; the family became known as “ta’ Scicli” and the valley where they lived as Wied Siekel. Għajn Tuta literally means the mulberry spring and the name is derived from a spring with mulberry trees in the vicinity.

The next inhabited were the adjacent fields going uphill known as ta’ Mulejja. The name is derived from the mimmated form of the Arab word walijun, protector, and hence mula, the lord or landlord, and eventually the area became known as ta’ Mulejja, a name now reserved to God.

The section between ta’ Mulejja and Santa Dminka in Rabat, is known as ta’ l-Isptar San Ġiljan. The Saint Julian hospital for women was opened on 3 May 1783 and in 1866 it was transformed into the Gozo Seminary. Before this time, this section of Fontana was also referred to as ta’ Santa Dminka. After this area was exhausted, buildings began to be built uphill on it-triq tal-Għajn, the name by which the village is commonly known.

The village did not develop further until the middle of the twentieth century when a triq il-Ġdida was opened to join it-triq tal-Għajn with triq Santa Dminka. In the 1950s this became Triq il-Kappillan Ġużepp Hili, the first parish priest. In the 1960s, triq Santa Dminka, was eventually also built up and included within the confines of the village. Santa Dminka was the dedication of a chapel referred to further on. In the 1970s, another development from it-triq tal-Għajn, now known as triq il-Qalb ta’ Ġes, joined the principal street of the village to an area adjacent Fuq it-Tomba known as ta’ Wara Santu Wistin. Its name is after the dedication of the parish church. In the 1980s, a large area off triq Santa Dminka was built up and four new streets were joined to the village: triq San Martin, after the dedication of a chapel also referred to further on, triq il-Kardinal Alessandro Franchi, triq il-Gvernatur Sir Gaspard Le Marchant, and triq l-Isqof Mikiel Franġisk Buttigieg. These three gentlemen played an important role in the establishment of the diocese of Gozo. Two new streets were opened in the same decade: the first, between triq l-Isptar San Ġiljan and it-triq tal-Għajn and aptly named triq is-Sajjieda, after the fishermen of Fontana; and the second, triq ta’ Mulejja, in the area of the same name.

Copyright Joseph Bezzina 2005