Xemxija (, pronounced ''shem-shee-ya'') is a suburb in the western part of
St. Paul's Bay in the
Northern Region,
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 quiet resort, surrounded by the countryside and some of the most fertile valleys in Malta. There is also a picturesque small fishing harbour. The resort is the gateway to the sandy beaches of
Golden Bay and to
Mellieħa Bay. There are a number of hotels and restaurants in Xemxija.
History
The area around Xemxija has been inhabited since prehistoric times. It contains a number of archaeological sites, which now form a heritage trail. These include a number of rock-hewn tombs, remains of two
megalithic temples, a
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
grain silo, trogloditic dwellings, cart ruts, a Roman road, and Roman
apiaries.
In around 1715, the
Order of St. John built
Arrias Battery as part of a series of fortifications defending Malta's coastline. It was also called ''Xemxija Battery'' since it was on the sunny side of the bay (''xemxija'' means "sunny" in
Maltese), and the area around it became known as ''Xemxija''. Today, the battery is a restaurant.
In 1839, the British built an
aqueduct allowing the transportation of water. The water travelled from an underground aqueduct in an area in
Wardija, known as ''tal-Ballut'', that extends to an above ground aqueduct and then to a reservoir both in Xemxija. The conservation of water was needed for the British military and their horses, who surveilled the area from the nearby defence posts.
An underground emergency flour mill was built in Xemxija during the
Cold War
The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
. It has been restored to working condition by the ''Fondazzjoni Wirt Industrijali Malti'' (Maltese Industrial Heritage Foundation), and is now open to the public.
Since the 1980s, several apartment blocks were built in Xemxija making it a popular residential area. It is also a small resort, mainly catering with bars and restaurants.
The
Simar Nature Reserve
Simar Nature Reserve is a nature reserve in Pwales, Pwales Valley, in Xemxija, St Paul's Bay, Malta. An artificial wetland habitat was created on 5 hectares in the 1990s by BirdLife Malta volunteers in an area of abandoned marshland.
The reserve l ...
forms part of the suburb. A fire and rescue station is located in Xemxija, known as the Xemxija Fire Station.
Further reading
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References
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Towns in Malta
St. Paul's Bay