top of page
Search

Gozo’s Pilgrim Trail: Ta’ Għammar Hill’s Stations of the Cross and the Miracle Shrine of Ta’ Pinu

Writer: Alex van Terheyden
Alex van Terheyden
15 hours ago
10 min read

Just off the coast of Malta lies Gozo: smaller, quieter and greener, with fewer crowds, a slower pace and a landscape steeped in history and faith. I came to see two of its great places of pilgrimage. First, a hill where marble statues lead pilgrims step by step through the Passion of Christ to the Resurrection at the summit. Then, across the valley, the Basilica of Ta’ Pinu, Malta’s national shrine and a place of miracles and answered prayers. Two places, one story of devotion. If you are planning a wider trip, start with my Malta travel guide: knights, temples, Gozo and the grit as well as the limestone.


This is the fifth of my seven Malta deep-dives. In the last one I stood among the stones of Ġgantija, the Gozo temple older than Stonehenge; this time the faith is younger, but it is very much alive. Watch the film first, then read on for the story of the hill, the voice Karmni Grima heard in 1883, a west-coast sunset and practical details at the end.



Off the beaten track — literally


I was not chasing Malta’s cart ruts this time. I was trying to reach a religious monument on top of a hill near the village of Għarb, which had looked intriguing on the map. My GPS cheerfully suggested I bring the car up. I could barely get up on foot. There had been heavy rain the day before, and the track had flooded into a river of mud: wonderful if you own a dirt bike, less so in trainers. At one point a tractor seemed to be chasing me, and I passed a no-entry sign, reasoning that I was, after a fashion, on a pilgrimage.


The scenery made up for everything. Terraced fields, stone walls and little farmhouses fell away on every side. Not a bad place to visit, and not a bad place to live if you are lucky enough to call it home. Then the track found its way back to something approaching normal, and it became obvious why it is so steep. The climb is the point.


Ta’ Għammar Hill and the Stations of the Cross


The hill is Ta’ Għammar, and it rises directly opposite the Ta’ Pinu shrine. According to Visit Gozo, there are 14 marble statues in all. The first, a bas-relief of the Last Supper, is on the basilica’s parvis; the second, the first on the hill path, shows the agony in the Garden of Gethsemane; and the last, the Resurrection, stands a step from a large amphitheatre on the summit. Unusually, the statues follow the biblical account of the Passion rather than the traditional fourteen Stations of the Cross.


Marble statue of the Crucifixion on Ta’ Għammar Hill, Gozo, silhouetted against the setting sun

The idea is older than the statues. The Ta’ Pinu shrine explains that the Virgin of Ta’ Pinu is said to have asked Franġisk Portelli to spread devotion to the hidden wound on Christ’s shoulder, caused by the weight of the cross. After the Second World War, a handful of devotees began to make a walk of repentance up this steep path. The original models of the statues were made by the Maltese artist Alfred Camilleri Cauchi and commissioned in 1970 from the Italian firm Tiemistocle Sarti. The rector who followed widened the path, planted trees along it and built the open-air amphitheatre on the summit. The white Carrara marble statues were placed along the path in the early 1980s (Visit Gozo).


I think I joined the story part-way through, because I came up the back of the hill rather than from the church. Even so, the effect is powerful. I watched the Crucifixion come to life, statue by statue, as the path wound upwards: awful, and at the same time an inspiration to billions of people, past, present and still to come. At one statue you can almost feel the agony as the hammer comes down on the nail. Then you turn around and there are the terraces, the Ta’ Għordan lighthouse in the distance and the whole of Gozo laid out at your feet. Maybe it was better that I stopped talking for a moment.


For the faithful this is more than a long walk past stone and marble. It is a reminder of Jesus not only as the suffering servant but as the king who triumphed over death. The story speaks of sacrifice, justice, mercy and hope, themes that reach far beyond Christianity and remain relevant to every generation and every corner of the world, even for those who do not share the faith. Near the top there is a shrine with a stone rolled back from a tomb, and the only sounds are footsteps, wind and, I imagine, prayer.


A sermon on the hill


At the very top I found what had made me want to come: a vast open-air auditorium built for sermons, gatherings and reflection, with an altar beneath the sky and the island stretching out in every direction. Here the story ends not in despair but in resurrection and hope. I could not help wondering how many lives have been moved on this hill, and how many people found comfort or a spark of faith here that stayed with them long after they came down.


It is so simple, and yet so beautiful and so touching. I take my hat off to it. Standing at the altar, beside a Maltese cross, I tried a few words and the whole space projected my voice back at me. Impressive acoustics for an audience of nobody. It is not always empty: Visit Gozo says that on one Sunday in Lent each year the Church in Gozo leads a pilgrimage of penance up the path at dusk, with pilgrims young and old carrying candles and torches, and the shrine says a meditation on the Way of the Cross is held on the hill during Holy Week.


The Basilica of Ta’ Pinu


Back down the hill stands the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of Ta’ Pinu, its tower a signal across Gozo’s horizon. Wikipedia gives the bell tower a height of 61 metres. The present church is a neo-Romanesque building designed by Andrea Vassallo; work began on 30 May 1920 and it was consecrated on 31 August 1932. Pope Pius XI granted a decree of coronation for its image of the Virgin in 1935, and the shrine’s own history says he raised it to a minor basilica the same year.


The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of Ta’ Pinu, Għarb, Gozo

The site is far older than the building. The chapel here belonged to a noble family, and in 1575 the apostolic visitor Pietro Dusina found it in such a poor state that he ordered it demolished. The story goes that the workman broke his arm on the first blow, and it became the only chapel on the island to survive his decree. Pinu Gauci became its procurator in 1598, which is where the name comes from: Ta’ Pinu means “of Philip” (Wikipedia).


Popes have come too. In May 1990 Pope John Paul II prayed in the chapel and celebrated Mass in the forecourt, and in April 2022 Pope Francis prayed in the chapel and led a prayer meeting on the parvis. In the film I said Pope Benedict had been here as well; strictly, he did not come to Gozo. In 2010 the image of Our Lady of Ta’ Pinu was brought across to Floriana on Malta, where he presented it with a Golden Rose (Ta’ Pinu shrine).


A voice in the chapel: the miracle of 1883


The moment that changed everything came on 22 June 1883. According to the shrine, Karmni (Karmela) Grima, a 45-year-old woman from Għarb and a devotee of the Virgin, was walking home from the fields when she heard a woman’s voice say “Come, come”. Frightened, she began to hurry away, but the voice called again from inside the chapel. She went in, and the voice, which seemed to come from the image of the Virgin, asked her to recite three Hail Marys in honour of the three days Mary’s body lay in the tomb before her Assumption.


Shortly afterwards Karmni fell ill and was confined to her bed for more than a year. When she finally shared her secret with her friend Francesco (Franġisk) Portelli, he told her that he too had heard a woman’s voice in the chapel. Soon after, his mother was healed; the shrine dates Vincenza Portelli’s recovery to October 1886 and records it as the first cure in its annals (Ta’ Pinu museums). The bishop, Pietru Pace, spoke to both and concluded the voice was of heavenly origin, and the lonely chapel became a place of pilgrimage. You can read more in Karmni Grima’s Wikipedia entry.


Is it true? People hear many voices in churches. Maybe Mary, or someone, did tap that lady on the shoulder and tell her to say her Hail Marys. Anything is possible. What is certain is that the belief built this place.


Ex-votos: a wall of hope


Inside, the stone is carved with care and the murals have an almost Byzantine look. There was a service under way at the front, so I slipped in just far enough to see and no further, out of respect. What stays with you, though, are the ex-votos lining the corridors: crutches, letters of thanks, photographs, baby clothes, even motorbike helmets. The shrine explains that the Latin ex voto suscepto means “from the vow made”, and that these are signs of gratitude left by people who believe they received help (Ta’ Pinu museums).


Ex-voto offerings, framed photographs and letters of thanks on a wall inside Ta’ Pinu basilica, Gozo

Each one is a story of healing and hope. Standing there, I wondered how many people have arrived broken and left with hope, and how many knelt before the altar looking for something they could not name. Here the sacred and the human converge: devotion becomes structure, stories become stone, and belief becomes something you can almost touch. I was nursing a terrible voice and six days of illness when I filmed this, and I did joke that one of these miracles might cure me. It is a very peaceful place. Go early, before the tour coaches arrive.


Getting around Gozo


Ta’ Pinu is in quite an isolated spot, so think about transport. There is a hop-on hop-off bus, and you will see taxis and private minibus tours. Or, like me, you can hire a car. Mine cost €60 for 11 days, which felt like a steal, although it had an ignition problem: on the second day it had to be jump-started on the ferry, and the rental company came out to start it again later in the trip. A car still let me turn down random dirt tracks to find sunsets, which brings me to the best part of the day.


Sunset on the west coast


As the sun set over Gozo’s west coast, the cliffs fell into shadow and the sea swallowed the light. It was so quiet. This land was here long before the stories we tell about it: older than the temples, older than the faith, older than any memory. That does not make one story more powerful than another. It simply reminds us that belief and nature stand side by side, each carrying its own truth.


The philosopher Alan Watts compared life to music or a dance rather than a journey with a fixed destination: you do not play a symphony just to reach the last note, or dance only to get to the far side of the floor. Perhaps sunsets teach the same lesson. Each is unique and unrepeatable, and yet we do not mourn its passing. We watch, we marvel, we let it go. Here on Gozo, pilgrims climb the hill and the faithful pray at Ta’ Pinu, but the cliffs and the sea need no temple and no altar. They are their own sermon, their own shrine, and all they ask is that we be present.


The sound of dusk


Back in Victoria, I ended the day in the gardens across from my hotel, The Duke Boutique Hotel, whose location page places it on Republic Street beside Villa Rundle Gardens. As the light went, the trees filled with a chorus of birds coming home to roost: parrots, finches, everything, all meeting in one noisy place. Better than any music. I felt very lucky to hear them, and if you stay there, you can book The Duke Boutique Hotel here.


How to visit Ta’ Pinu and Ta’ Għammar Hill


Opening hours: the basilica is free to enter and, per Guide Me Malta, is open daily from 06:30 to 12:15 and 15:30 to 19:00. Masses are held through the day (see the Ta’ Pinu website for times), so visit quietly and dress modestly, with shoulders and knees covered. Ta’ Għammar Hill is an open hillside; wear good walking shoes, as the path is steep and rough (Visit Gozo), and start from the basilica parvis so you see the statues in order.


Getting there: the Gozo Channel ferry from Ċirkewwa to Mġarr takes about 25 minutes (fares). Ta’ Pinu is about 700 metres from the village of Għarb in western Gozo; plan bus routes on Malta Public Transport, or drive. Details were checked on 21 October 2026; confirm on the day.


Where to stay


I stayed at The Duke Boutique Hotel in Victoria, which is central for the whole island. Alternatively, compare stays across Gozo on Booking.com Gozo or find an apartment on Airbnb. Use the Malta hotels map below (Stay22 Hub, AID thewonderingenglishman) to weigh up Gozo against a base on the main island.



Guided tours to Gozo and Ta’ Pinu


If you are based on Malta and would rather not drive, guided day trips to Gozo commonly stop at Ta’ Pinu. Browse Malta and Gozo tours on Viator or Gozo tours on GetYourGuide, then read the Malta travel guide again before you lock the itinerary. For the history of the Knights who shaped these islands, see my Valletta post.



Getting around and staying connected


I book cars through Discover Cars, and if you want a driver waiting at Malta International, book a private transfer with GetTransfer. For data, my go-to eSIM is Saily (code Wondering for 15% off); Roamless is another good option (code WONDERING for 20% off). And to stop carrying a bag of pointless plugs, this film was sponsored by the TESSAN universal travel adapter: one cube, four settings, over 150 countries covered.


Plan your trip



Flights


Flying to Malta? Compare fares below.



The Wondering Englishman has visited over 90 countries so far, and I'm slowly making my way around the world. There is still more of Malta to share: more stories, more places, more mysteries. These edits cannot be rushed. Perhaps the greatest wisdom is not in chasing meaning but in realising it is already here, in the sound of the waves, the colour of the sky and the simple act of being alive to witness it.



Photo credits: cover Santuario Nacional de la Virgen de Ta ’Pinu, DD 32 by Diego Delso (delso.photo); Ta’ Għammar Hill, Stations of the Cross by T3rRyCa; Dankesbezeugungen in der Wallfahrtskirche Ta’ Pinu by Kritzolina — all via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 4.0.


Disclosure: some links on this page are affiliate links, so I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.


If useful, subscribe to my YouTube Channel. Or SubscribeStar. Or buy me a coffee via Ko-Fi.


Safe travels, The Wondering Englishman

Comments

Donate with PayPal
bottom of page