THE DEVELOPMENT & CONSOLIDATION
OF THE VILLAGE UNIT
IN GOZO AFTER 1575
An in-depth study by Rev Dr Joseph Bezzina - Part 1
A new Gozo began to take shape in the last quarter of the sixteenth
century. By the year 1575, the island had recovered to quite an extent
from the cataclysmic Great Siege of 1551. The population of the island
which from around 6000 before the Siege had fallen to a few hundred in
the following decade, was climbing steadily and was then close to 2300.
Agricultural activity was thriving again and commerce made a slow recovery,
with the result that the economy began heading towards a revival.
