The geography of parochial divisions in Victoria, Gozo

Abstract

Whoever finds happens to be in Victoria Gozo in the months of July or August, is surely aware of the several activities taking place in the city. During these two months Victoria is en fété as two feasts are celebrated: St George's feast in the third week of July and St Mary's on the 15th of August. If one decides to stroll around the city during one of the feasts, he/ she realizes that not all Victoria is decorated but only parts of it. Is it a coincidence or something more? Does all of Victoria celebrate the two feasts or not? This is precisely what the dissertation is trying to focus upon. It is an analysis trying to locate and discover any geographical divisions present in Victoria. The study will analyse several aspects relating to what I will be referring to as "parochial division" in Victoria: starting from the affiliation of Victoria's population with two band clubs, the location of priest hailing from the two respective parishes, distribution of religious images representing the two saints. Questionnaires and data gathered during the several field surveys. Scientific methods are adopted to further prove my conclusions. Different maps with the aim of representing graphically any particular distribution of the two parishes will hopefully illustrate the results of my research. After all the data was processed, several conclusions could be issued. The main outcomes of the dissertation gathered from secondary sources were that disputes between the two parishes were present in the sixteenth century with Bishop Cagliares dictating new territory for the two parishes in 1688 because of the continuous disputes between them. Bishop Pace dissolved the agreement written by Bishop Cagliares in 1955. After conducting my field surveys I could confirm that these "parochial" boundaries are still present even today. I came to this conclusion by analysing the following: (i) distribution of religious images attached to the fa<cades representing the two saints within Victoria (ii) decorations of houses in either one feast or another (iii) the streets of Victoria which the festive celebrations organised by the two band clubs are held (iv) location of priests hailing from the two parishes (v) the relation of the two parishes with other chapels in Victoria.