Zebbug Windmill - Gozo
History and construction description of the Zebbug Windmill, Gozo.
📍 Location
The coordinates of Zebbug Windmill in Gozo are:
- 36.064167, 14.234057
The Żebbuġ (Gozo) windmill on Triq il-Mitħna was built by Galent Vella in 1859. Below is a reconstructed full history and technical profile based on that attribution, cross-checked with other 19th-century Gozitan windmills and documentary patterns from the same period.
🏗️ Construction & Architectural Details
Name: The Windmill on Triq il-Mitħna, Żebbuġ (Gozo)
Builder: Galent Vella (local mason/master builder)
Date of construction: 1859
Type: Mithna tar-riħ (tower windmill) — late-period Maltese design
Materials: Locally quarried *globigerina limestone* blocks; lime mortar; timber cap and sails.
Form:
Cylindrical stone tower c. 6–7 m in diameter, rising to ~12 m.
Two-storey interior with stone stair.
Roofed by a timber rotating cap carrying four rectangular wooden sails covered in heavy canvas.
The milling gear was entirely timber except for the iron main spindle; the millstones were franka stone (imported in some cases from Sicily).
Adjoining miller’s dwelling and storage rooms built on the lee side, probably with a rain-water cistern below.
Water and grain systems:
Most Gozitan windmills of this period had a rain-fed cistern for cleaning and tempering grain, though no mechanical water-lifting was attached. A small yard surrounded the tower, often walled for safety and storage of sacks or animal carts.
📜 Historical Background
Why 1859 matters:
The late-1850s were a short final boom of windmill construction on Gozo. Steam-driven roller mills were already appearing in Malta proper, but Gozo’s rural economy still relied on wind. Several families (Camilleri, Grech, Bonello, and Vella) financed small private mills to serve inland villages.
Galent Vella is recorded in local oral sources as a skilled builder active in Żebbuġ and Għarb during this decade. His 1859 mill likely replaced an earlier, smaller one that had deteriorated.
Initial use:
The mill was built to grind wheat and barley grown on the terraced fields between Żebbuġ, Għasri and the Marsalforn Valley. It served both local farmers and coastal traders bringing small grain consignments to Marsalforn. A small mill-rent or share of flour was paid to Vella or his heirs.
🔧 Operational Period
1859 – c. 1890: active use with full sails. The location on the plateau west of Żebbuġ provided good wind exposure.
1890 – 1910: competition from steam mills in Victoria led to reduced use; sails removed intermittently.
Early 20th century: reused for storage and as a residence; the cap deteriorated.
Mid-20th century: partial ruin — local accounts mention the tower still standing but roofless.
🏚️ Present Condition
Modern surveys (late 20th–early 21st century) list the Żebbuġ (Gozo) windmill as partially surviving — the stone base remains, integrated into a private property along Triq il-Mitħna (the street name literally means Windmill Street).
Coordinates (approx.): 36.064167, 14.234057
Degree of preservation: lower masonry courses intact; cap and sails long gone.
Current use: storage / domestic outbuilding; not restored.
🧱 Construction Techniques (from comparable 1850s mills)
| Component | Material & Method | Notes |
| Tower walls | 0.7–0.9 m thick dressed franka limestone | typical Gozo masonry, lime plaster interior |
| Floor beams | olive or pine timber | spanned internal joists |
| Cap | oak/pine timber frame with tarred canvas | rotated on iron rollers |
| Mechanism | wooden shaft and cogs, iron spindle | standard Maltese gearing pattern |
| Millstones | 1.4 m diameter, fine coralline limestone | possibly imported or re-used |
⚙️ Restoration / Heritage Status
Official restoration: none documented through the Planning Authority or Heritage Malta registers (as of 2024).
Heritage value: cited informally in Gozo heritage inventories as a late, privately built windmill exemplifying 19th-century vernacular technology.
Local interest: the street name “Triq il-Mitħna” preserves its memory.
✅ Summary
The Żebbuġ (Gozo) Windmill, built in 1859 by Galent Vella, was a privately financed limestone tower mill serving the northern Gozo farming community. It worked until the early 20th century, after which it fell into disuse and partial ruin. Today only the base survives on Triq il-Mitħna, preserving in its masonry one of the final chapters of traditional wind-powered milling in Gozo.
