Invasion of Gozo (1551)

Invasion of Gozo
Part of the Ottoman–Habsburg wars
Contemporary view of the Castello – also known as the Cittadella – as photographed in 2015
Date 18–30 July 1551 (12 days) Location Gozo, Hospitaller Malta (following initial landing on the main island of Malta) 36°2′47″N 14°14′22″E / 36.04639°N 14.23944°E / 36.04639; 14.23944 Result Ottoman victory
Belligerents
Ottoman Empire	Hospitaller Malta
Commanders and leaders
Sinan Pasha Salah Rais Dragut	On Malta: Juan de Homedes Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon On Gozo: Galatian de Sesse
Strength
c. 10,000–12,000 men 145 ships	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Several killed c. 5,000–7,000 enslaved

The Invasion of Gozo, also known as the Siege of Gozo (Maltese: L-Assedju ta' Għawdex), was an Ottoman invasion of the island of Gozo, then part of Hospitaller Malta, in July 1551. The attack, which was led by Sinan Pasha, Salah Rais and Dragut, appears to have been launched in retaliation for the capture of Mahdia by the Spanish and Hospitallers the previous year.

The Ottoman force briefly attacked Augusta in Sicily before landing on the main island of Malta on 18 July, where the city of Mdina was briefly besieged and some villages were plundered. They then abandoned Malta and landed on nearby Gozo, where the Castello was bombarded for two days before its garrison capitulated on 26 July. The fortress was sacked and between 5,000 and 7,000 people – the majority of the island's population – were enslaved and taken to North Africa or Constantinople. The same Ottoman force went on to capture Tripoli from the Hospitallers on 15 August 1551.

Some of the enslaved Gozitans were ransomed or freed, while others are known to have died in slavery or converted to Islam. Most of them never returned to the Maltese Islands, and it took about a century of resettlement for Gozo's population to recover. The Hospitallers made efforts to improve the defences of Malta after the attack; the fortifications they built later played a key role in the Great Siege of Malta of 1565.