Gozo and the Grand Tour

Some years ago, Thomas Freller published a monograph on Malta and the Grand Tour, where the subject of Gozo and its visitors was treated in a rather short chapter. After considering the wealth of material available about Gozo and the importance the island had achieved in the course of the tour by classical connoisseurs and the Romantics, the author found it only fair to dedicate a separate monograph to this subject. In fact, at one time it was the monuments of Gozo rather than the ones in Malta which attracted important travellers on their Grand Tour who first visited Gozo before crossing over to Malta. Especially in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, it was the fascination with archaeology, romanticism, and exoticism which brought eminent authors and personages to the ancient Gaulos.