Ġgantija Vineyards

Where it sits. Mġarr — L-Imġarr in Maltese, and not to be confused with Mġarr harbour on Gozo — is a farming village in the northwest of Malta, west of Mosta and inland from the western bays. It sits among some of the best agricultural land on the island: a broad shelf of red soil between the Binġemma ridge and the sea, cut by shallow valleys and divided into small terraced fields by rubble walls. The population reached 5,336 in July 2024, and a genuinely large share of it still farms. Mġarr's territory runs west to the coast and takes in Ġnejna Bay, Għajn Tuffieħa and the dramatic cliff inlet of Fomm ir-Riħ, along with the hamlets of Żebbiegħ, Binġemma and Santi.

Two World Heritage temples. Mġarr holds two of the megalithic temple sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Ta' Skorba, at Żebbiegħ, is the older in terms of what it reveals: excavation in the early 1960s found occupation layers beneath the temple going back to the earliest known farming settlement on the islands, and the site gave its name to two phases of Maltese prehistory. Ta' Ħaġrat, on the edge of the village itself, is a smaller two-temple complex built in successive phases, with a monumental trilithon doorway of torba-set uprights; it was identified in 1917 and excavated by Sir Temi Zammit between 1923 and 1926, with further work in 1954 and 1961. Both sites are compact, quiet and easy to visit, and both are far less crowded than the great southern temples.

Deeper layers. Around 33 Punic tombs have been recorded across Mġarr's fields, at Abbatija and near Skorba, and the Binġemma tombs cut into Dwejra Hill — known locally as Għerien il-Lhud, the Jewish caves — have been reused for centuries as animal shelters and wartime refuges. A Roman rural villa at Ras ir-Raħeb, on the headland above Fomm ir-Riħ, appears to have had a cult function, and the Roman baths at Għajn Tuffieħa, built in the first or second century AD, served the same rural estate network. In May 1565 the Ottoman fleet anchored in the bays below the village before moving south to begin the Great Siege.

The Egg Church. The parish church of the Assumption dominates the village from raised ground and is the local landmark for miles. A chapel had stood on the site since at least 1436; Mġarr became an autonomous parish in 1898, when the population was under 600, and work on the present church began in 1905. It took four decades: construction depended on volunteer labour and on money the parishioners raised by selling their own produce, which is the origin of the nickname il-Knisja tal-Bajd, the Egg Church — eggs, along with crops and livestock, funded the stone. The old chapel was demolished in 1918, the church was finally finished after wartime interruptions and consecrated in 1948. Its oval dome is unusual in Malta and reads clearly from the Binġemma ridge, where the church still stands out as the largest building for miles.

Food, wine and the strawberry festival. Mġarr's fields supply a large share of Malta's potatoes, tomatoes, melons and strawberries, and the village makes a point of it. The Festa Frawli, the strawberry festival held in the square in April, turns the local crop into a one-day event of stalls, strawberry desserts and village band music, and draws crowds from across the island. Vineyards on the surrounding slopes feed the Maltese wine industry, and the village co-operative winery has been operating for decades. The restaurants around the church square are known for rabbit — fenek, stewed or fried, is the national dish and Mġarr is one of the places people drive to for it.

On screen. The Mġarr coastline has done service for the film industry since the 1960s: Ġnejna Bay was used for Mister Jerico (1970), and Għajn Tuffieħa, within the village's boundary, appears in the location lists of Trenchcoat (1983), Les Loups entre Eux (1985) and Black Eagle (1988). The appeal is consistent — a sandy bay with a watchtower on the cliff above it and no modern building in shot.

Getting there and timing. Buses 44 and 238 connect Mġarr with Valletta and the northern towns, though the service is rural in frequency and a car makes the outlying sites far easier. The village is a natural base for walking: tracks lead west to Ġnejna Bay in about 40 minutes, north along the coast to Għajn Tuffieħa, and southwest to the cliffs at Fomm ir-Riħ. Spring is the season to come — green fields, wildflowers, the strawberry crop and comfortable walking temperatures — with September and October a good second choice for the grape harvest and warm sea.