Victoria, Gozo: European Capital of Culture 2031
By Kerry Gaffney | Last Updated 12/10/2026
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Gozo’s capital is about to join a list that includes Athens, Florence and Liverpool. In September, an independent panel of European experts recommended Victoria as European Capital of Culture for 2031. Once Malta formally designates it, Victoria becomes the second Maltese city to hold the title, after Valletta in 2018.
Before the announcement, the panel had its farewell drinks at Gleneagles, the harbourside bar in Mġarr, on the Tuesday evening. Since the news broke, the Gozo Facebook groups have been full of congratulations and a good deal of pride. The Gozo Business Chamber called it a significant opportunity for the island’s economic and social development, and a platform to celebrate Gozitan identity. It also said the year will only work if government, business and the wider community pull together.
What Is a European Capital of Culture?
The title has been running since 1985, when Athens was the first holder. Each year, cities in two EU countries take it on, and every third year a city from an EU candidate country joins them. The holder runs a year-long programme of cultural events, with EU and government funding behind it, including a €1.5 million prize from the EU’s Creative Europe programme.
Valletta held the title in 2018, sharing it with Leeuwarden in the Netherlands. The Valletta Design Cluster and MUŻA, the national community art museum, both came out of that year.
Victoria will share 2031 with a Spanish city, due to be named in December. The four finalists are Cáceres, Granada, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Oviedo.
Island of Islands: Victoria’s Bid
Victoria’s bid is called Island of Islands. It focuses on Gozo’s communities, landscapes and cultural practices, and is built around three themes: coast, salt and waves. It also tackles the realities of island life, including whether young Gozitans can afford to stay and build a future here.
The Victoria 2031 Foundation sums up its approach in three values: slowness, care and courage. If you want the detail, the full bid book is online.
The salt theme will make sense to anyone who has walked the coast at Xwejni, where the salt pans have been worked for generations. The programme itself comes later, and I’ll update this page as it’s announced.
The Cittadella Has Done This Before
Victoria already knows what EU money can do. The Cittadella’s outer walls were restored in phases between 2008 and 2013. The whole perimeter was laser-scanned to map its condition first, and long steel rods were driven into the rock under D’Homedes Bastion to stop fractured stone slipping down the slope.
A second EU-funded project then restored the buildings inside the walls. It cost almost €15 million, most of it from the European Regional Development Fund, and was inaugurated in June 2016. Visitor numbers rose by about 29% that year, and the project won the EU’s RegioStars award. If you have walked the bastions after dark, the lighting came from the same project.
Victoria on Screen
The Cittadella’s streets have been a film set for six decades. Death Is a Woman (1966), Brideshead Revisited (1981), Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992) and Byron (2003) all filmed there. Coronation Street brought its cast over in 2007, and Ainsley Harriott cooked his way through for Ainsley’s Taste of Malta. Each August, the Gozo Film Festival screens films inside the walls, free to attend.
Game of Thrones did not film here, whatever TikTok tells you. The only Game of Thrones scene shot on Gozo is Daenerys and Khal Drogo’s wedding at Dwejra.
For opening times, tickets and where each scene was filmed, see our guide to the Victoria Citadel.
Do You Need to Wait Until 2031?
No. Most of what will make 2031 work is already here.
The Cittadella is free to enter and open at all times. Only the visitor centre, museums and the Cathedral charge and are closed on Mondays. Walk the bastions for views across the whole island, then come down to St George’s Square for a coffee in the shadow of the Basilica.
October is opera season. Victoria has two opera houses, and this year the Aurora opens the season with La Traviata on 17 October, while the Astra closes it with Madama Butterfly on 29 and 31 October. Our guide to opera on Gozo has tickets, the dress code and where to eat before the curtain.
You’ll also hear the town called Rabat. That was its name until 1887, when the British renamed it for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. Most Gozitans still call it Rabat.
Top Tip: Go up to the Cittadella early in the morning or after dark. You’ll have the bastions almost to yourself, and the lit walls are worth the walk.
Our Victoria guide covers where to eat, drink and wander.
As the smaller island of the Maltese islands, Gozo is often overlooked as a destination. 2031 is wonderful opportunity to put it in the limelight.
How to Get Involved
The Victoria 2031 Foundation is looking for volunteers to help on the ground, from festivals to community projects across Gozo. You can sign up as a volunteer here.
For news as the programme develops, follow Victoria 2031 on its website, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
Where to Stay in Victoria
Victoria is Gozo’s bus hub, so staying here puts every corner of the island within reach without a car.
Victoria 2031 FAQs
We’ll be following Victoria 2031 as the programme takes shape, and the newsletter is the first place I’ll share updates. It lands on the 1st of each month.