In Gozo last Summer I took the opportunity to walk across the top of the Azure Window to capture the view down over the rock pools and beyond to Fungus Rock in the distance.
When I first went to Gozo nearly 30 years ago the window was a tall rectangle. Now it is increasingly trapezoid and soon it will no longer be a window but an isolated pinnacle.
It’s a giddying and exhilarating place. Even snorkelling beneath the arch induces vertigo as the tower disappears into the depths.
Nevertheless there are videos of daredevils jumping off the top on youtube.com.
From the North side the arch looks softer and more rounded, but no less impressive.
The Azure Window is made of a Maltese limestone known as Globigerina which can appear beige or golden depending on its age and the light. The submerged rock gives the water a lovely iridescent azure blue.
The arch has featured as a backdrop in Clash of the Titans (1981), The Odyssey (1997), The Count of Monte Cristo (2002) and HBO’s TV series Game of Thrones.
A smaller less accessible rock arch on the North coast at Wied El Mielah looks to be in a similarly precarious state. With a view through it to the west it’s a popular place to watch the sun set.
Will Smith / The Rowley Gallery
Now it’s gone.
So very sad. Cannot believe it. But Gozo will always be Gozo with its wonderful people and we will always love it.
This just seems like another bad dream to me. Amazing to think it’s been there for 500 years and suddenly completely disappears from above the surface – though it shouldn’t be surprising considering how eroded the base of the pillar had become and how deep the water is there.