Mtarfa () is a small town in the Northern Region of

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 ...

, with a population of 2,572 as of March 2014. It was considered to be a suburb of

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

until 2000, when it became a separate local council.

History

A number of historic silos were discovered in Mtarfa in October 1973. In the

Roman period The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, Mtarfa was a suburb of Melite, and it contained a

Temple of Proserpina The Temple of Proserpina or Temple of Proserpine () was a Roman temple in Mtarfa, Malta, an area which was originally a suburb outside the walls of Melite. It was dedicated to Proserpina, goddess of the underworld and renewal. The date of cons ...

. The ruins of the temple were destroyed in the 17th and 18th centuries for reusing the stones in other buildings. Substantial remains of the suburb itself, including the arrangement of the streets and many tombs, survived until the late 19th century. In 1890, British military barracks began to be built in Mtarfa, destroying most of the Roman remains in the process. A chapel dedicated to St. Lucy was first recorded in 1460, and is still standing to date. It is not currently in regular use. A clock tower, now a prominent landmark of Mtarfa, was built in 1895. A naval hospital,

RNH Mtarfa The Royal Navy Hospital Mtarfa, also known as ''David Bruce (microbiologist), David Bruce Royal Naval Hospital'', is a former British Royal Naval Hospital, naval hospital in Mtarfa, Malta. It was built during World War I and opened soon after ...

, was built during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and it has now been converted to a state secondary school, named after Sir

Temi Zammit Sir Themistocles "Temi" Zammit (or Żammit; 30 September 1864 – 2 November 1935) was a Maltese archaeologist and historian, professor of chemistry, medical doctor, researcher and writer. He served as Rector (1920–26) of the Royal Univers ...

. A chapel dedicated to St. Oswald was built by the British after the end of World War I. The British left a prominent impact on the most visible architecture in town by building the St. David's Barracks. After the British left Malta, the barracks were reused for multiple purposes, primarily

social housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

, and the town expanded further more into other modern residential areas. In 1988, architects Keith Cole and Joseph M. Spiteri were commissioned to modify the barracks and convert them into homes for roughly 2,000 people. After completion, they were appointed to design other new apartments, as one building, on a site provided by the

Housing Authority A housing authority or ministry of housing is generally a governmental body that governs aspects of housing or (called in general " shelter" or "living spaces"), often providing subsidies and low rent or free public housing to qualified people. ...

Politics and administration

Mtarfa was formerly part of

local council, when local councils were first set up in Malta in 1993. In 2000 Mtarfa elected its first local council, after an amendment was made to the Local Councils Act. In April 2008, due to failure on the part of the council to meet at least once a month as required by the Local Council Act, the Prime Minister

Lawrence Gonzi Lawrence Gonzi (born 1 July 1953) is a Maltese politician, retired Nationalist politician and lawyer, who served for twenty-five years in various critical roles in Maltese politics. Gonzi was Prime Minister of Malta from 2004 to 2013, and lead ...

recommended to the President of the Republic to dissolve the local council and to set up a temporary committee to administer the affairs of the locality. The Mtarfa local council had failed to meet since November 2007 allegedly over disagreements on the appointment of the council's Executive Secretary. A special election was held in 2008 after the dissolution of the council. The town has gone on to vote in further local council elections. Mtarfa was declared an Autonomous Pastoral zone in 2000, and became an independent parish in the denomination of the Roman Catholic Church on 8 December 2004. The parish church is also dedicated to

Saint Lucy Lucia of Syracuse ( – 304 AD), also called Saint Lucia () and better known as Saint Lucy, was a Roman people, Roman Christian martyr who died during the Diocletianic Persecution. She is venerated as a saint in Catholic Church, Catholic, Angl ...

Sport

Mtarfa has its own football club, Mtarfa F.C. Founded in 2006, the club took part in the Maltese Third Division for the first time in their history in the 07/08 season. They entered the Malta Football Association in lieu of Ta' Xbiex F.C., who lost their status due to their consistent poor results in the lowest of Maltese divisions. Currently (2022–23) play in the

Maltese Challenge League The Maltese Challenge League (referred to as the Bank of Valletta, BOV Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest division in Football in Malta, Maltese football, behind the Maltese Premier League. The First Division was th ...

(second tier). Former World Speedway Champion

Mark Loram Mark Roysten Gregory Loram (born 12 January 1971) is a British former motorcycle speedway rider, who won the World Speedway Championship in 2000 and won the British Championship in 1997, 1999, and 2001. He earned 36 international caps for t ...

, who won the title representing Great Britain in 2000, was born in Mtarfa. British cyclist

David Millar David Millar (born 4 January 1977) is a Scottish retired professional road racing cyclist. He rode for Cofidis from 1997 to 2004 and Garmin–Sharp from 2008 to 2014. He has won four stages of the Tour de France, five of the Vuelta a España a ...

was also born in Mtarfa, and won a gold medal representing Malta at the

2001 Games of the Small States of Europe The IX Games of the Small States of Europe were held from 28 May to 2 June 2001 in the Republic of San Marino. Competitions ''Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each sport.'' * * * * * * * * * * * ...

Zones in Mtarfa

* Buqana * Ġnien Ħira * Ħaż-Żmien * Il-Marġ * It-Tabija * Sandar *

Santa Luċija Santa Luċija () is a village in the Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 2,997 as of March 2014. It is one of the modern towns developed in Malta during the 20th century. By virtue of an article which appeared in Government Gazette o ...

Ta' Sagħat Taw, tav, or taf is the twenty-second and last letter of the Semitic abjads, including Arabic ''tāʾ'' , Aramaic ''taw'' 𐡕‎, Hebrew ''tav'' , Phoenician ''tāw'' 𐤕, and Syriac ''taw'' ܬ. In Arabic, it also gives rise to the derived l ...

* Ta' Slampa * Tal-Għeriexem * Tal-Kanuni * Tal-Maħruq * Tar-Rangu * Tat-Tabija * Wied il-Qliegħa

References

External links