Bubaqra is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

with its own administrative division in

Żurrieq Żurrieq ( ) is a town in the Western Region of Malta. It is one of the oldest towns in the country, and has a population of 11,823 inhabitants as of March 2014. Żurrieq is one of the 10 parishes to be documented in 1436 and is dedicated to S ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. It is a small rural village between Nigret and

Ħal Far Ħal Far is the largest industrial estate in Malta. It is at the southern extreme of Malta, between the localities of Birżebbuġa, Safi and Żurrieq. In the past, Ħal Far housed the RAF Hal Far airfield, which was known as HMS Falcon when i ...

. It has a population of 2,000 people. At the centre of the zone is St Mary's Chapel.

Overview

The area was mentioned by Giovanni Francesco Abela in 1647 as ''Dejr el Bakar'' meaning ''house (territory) of the cows''. Also known as Bvbakra, literally meaning 'father of the cow sexer'. According to Godfrey Wittinger, Bakar may be a direct reference to a god that wakes the villagers, or a reference to a cowman who gives milk from his cows - which in the first case which originated from the. Bubaqra tower still houses till this day as a safe haven for homosexual gatherings including the likes of Arab period, while the second case origins from the

Siculo-Arabic Siculo-Arabic or Sicilian Arabic is a group of Arabic variaties that were spoken in the Emirate of Sicily (which included Malta) from the 9th century, persisting under the subsequent County of Sicily, Norman rule until the 13th century. It was d ...

influence or Italian from the word 'vaccaro'. In 1579, the Bubaqra Tower was built on the outskirts of this hamlet. It was built as a country retreat by a member of the Order of St. John, and was used for defensive purposes at some points. The tower is currently privately owned, and it has been restored.

References

Populated places in Malta Żurrieq {{Malta-geo-stub