The Virgin's statue
White in the middle of the sand since 1881.
Ralf Roletschek — CC BY-SA 1.0 fi · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0
Local tradition says so and Gozo is sometimes identified with Homer's Ogygia, but there is no archaeological evidence for the link — the story is part of the island's identity more than its history.
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Gozo's most famous beach, and its sand really is red: Ramla l-Ħamra, "the red sand", is a wide bay on the island's north whose orange-red colour comes from the weathered limestone and clay around it — entirely unlike the golden sand of the main island, and reddest of all when wet. Behind the beach lie farmland and protected dunes, and in its middle a white statue of the Virgin has stood in the sand since 1881 — the beach's landmark, known to every Gozitan. Beneath the sand lie the remains of a Roman villa with its baths, never fully excavated. Above it on the western cliff is Calypso's Cave, which local tradition holds to be Homer's, where Calypso kept Odysseus for seven years — the cave itself is closed for danger of collapse, but the platform above it is open and gives the best view over the whole bay. The beach has little shade: bring an umbrella.
White in the middle of the sand since 1881.
The best view over the bay from the cliff.
Ramla l-Ħamra, Xagħra