The Word Gharb Comes from Arabic that means (sunset) the West of Gozo. In Arabic The Word Gharb Is Written (herb). The Parish Church Gharb become a parish on August 29, 1679 by a decree of Bishop Gerolomo Molina. The Church dedicated to the Visitation of Our Lady to St.Elizabeth is known as "tal-Virtu'" or 'Taz-Zejt", was chosen as the first parish church while Fr. Giovanni Maria Camilleri was installed as its first parish priest.However, as the population was increasing the people of Gnarb decided to build a larger church. For this reason, a petition was sent to Granmaster Raymond Perel los in 1698, requesting a suitable site for the building of the new church. The request of the people of Gharb was granted after a short time.The site, known as "Ta' Nawrata", was about a mile away from the old Church but stood on higher ground. The required funds started to be collected and architect Giuseppe Azzopardi, known as "iz-zghir"from Vittoriosa Malta, was commisoned submi the plans while Dionisius Carnemolla, from Gharb itself was chosen as the master-mason. The foundation stone was laid in 1699 by parish priest Giovanni Maria Camilleri. Construction work was finished in November 1726 and the new church was blessed by Bishop Paolo Alpheran de Bussan during his first pastoral visit in 1729. From that date this church started to act as the parish church. On September 28 1755, the Church was solemnly consecated by the same bishop. The Population of Gharb throughout the Years Year -
people The Village Of Gharb And Our Lady A quick look at the history of Gozo indicates clearly that the village of Gharb always had a special devotion for Our Lady. In 1545 Rev. Joseph Manduca visited a small chapel situated on land owned by Pinu Gauci,dedicated to the Assumption of Our Lady. This was done on the occasion of the pastoral visit by the Bishop Domenic Cubelles. The devotion to Our Lady in this chapel started at about 1400. Before 1432 or the hill of Ta Dbieg, there was also a chapel dedicated to Our Lady of Light. In 1596 a plenary indulgence granted by Pope Clement VIII could be obtained by those who visited the chapel of the Annunciation on the fifteenth of August.In 1575 there were three out of eight churches in Gharb which were dedicated to Our Lady: Ta' Pinu`,Tal-Virtu' and another one dedicated to the Assumption at Madliena. Alter the plague of 1592, a niche dedicated to the Immaculate Conception was erected at the outskirts of the village. When Gharb was established as a parish, devotion to Our Lady increased. The Fraternity of the Rosary was started on the 21st March 1688 and a statue of Our Lady of the Rosary was made out of a trunk of a tree. The author of a manuscript at the Cathedra of Mdina states that the devotion to Our Lady is very old especially towards Our Lady of Tal-Virtu`.This continued to grow especially when the new church today a Basilica,was finished in 1729. The Antiphon of the Visitation of Our Lady was sung everyday. On Saturdays, on the eve of feast days and in the Christmas Novena the Litany of Our Lady was sung. In 1739, the Rev. Melkior Agius gave the Church of Gharb a piece of cloth which Our Lady used to cover Baby Jesus in Betlehem. In 1863 permission was granted by Bishop Publius M. Sant to make the statue of Our Lady of the Visitation .Craftsman Joseph Vella most known as (mastru pepp) from Valletta made it, and it was put in the Church of all souls at VaIletta, where it was blessed by the Bishop. On the 17th' of October 1802. the Fraternity of Our Lady of the Cingulum was formed. This was joined with those of Saint James of\par Bologna and that of Saint Augustine in Rome. In 1869 a statue of the above mentioned Madonna was made by Glormu Darmanin. On the 14th May 1893 Fr. Benedict Bonnici O.P. joined the fraternity of the Rosary to the Congregation of the Domenican Order. In 1903 a newstatueof OurLadyof the Rosary was made by L. Ramat. On the 8 th May 1955. the Bishop of Gozo Mgr. Joseph Pace, blessed the statue of Our Lady of Fatima. This statue was bought by the Archpriest Mgr. Joseph Borg from Gorg Zammit of Valletta. List of niches which can be found in Gharb: * The Immaculate Conception-Wistin Camilleri, * The Assumption-Anthony Zammit, * Our Lady of Carmel-worked in stone by Alexander Farrugia in 1838, * Our Lady Of Graces-Wistin Camilleri, * The Visitation of Our Lady-restored in 1946 by Wistin Camilleri. In 1932 the Catholic Action was started in Gharb under the Protection of Our Lady of Ta`Pinu.On the 16th June,1966,the Legion Of Mary held their first Meeting in Gharb. On the 25th of July,1979,the coronation of the Blessed Virgin in the Titular painting took place. Archpriests during the years Name of Arcipriest - Date of
Taking Office
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