Filfla

Filfla
Filfla with Filfoletta seen from the north-west
Waters	Mediterranean Sea
Archipelago	Maltese islands
Geographical location	35 ° 47 '15 "  N , 14 ° 24' 36"  E Coordinates: 35 ° 47 '15 "  N , 14 ° 24' 36"  E
length	330 m
width	160 m
surface	6 ha
Highest elevation	60  m
Residents	uninhabited
Map sketch

Filfla is an uninhabited island rock in the Republic of Malta with an area of ​​6  hectares . It belongs to the Maltese Islands and is 5 km south of the main island of Malta. The rock belongs to the city of Żurrieq .

The rock consists of a 60 m high plateau , it drops steeply towards the coast in the form of cliffs . Around 90 m southwest of Filfla lies the small side island of Filfoletta, which is only around 0.25 hectares in size and on which the southernmost point of the Republic of Malta is located. The only verifiable building on the island is a small chapel from 1343, which was primarily used by fishermen. It was completely destroyed in an earthquake in 1856 . Until 1971, the small island was used by the British Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy as a target training area because it looks like an aircraft carrier from the air . Due to the constant bombing , larger parts of the island broke off. At the request of a citizens' movement, the exercises were discontinued and Filfla was declared a bird sanctuary in 1980. In 1988 the protective measures were reinforced by the Filfla Natural Reserve Act . A restricted zone for shipping traffic has been established within one nautical mile (1.852 km). In addition to the tranquility of the local underwater world around the island, the main reason is that not all of the explosive devices from the earlier target exercises have exploded and these pose a significant risk to the fishery.

Access to the island is only permitted for research purposes and with prior approval from the Ministry of the Environment. Maltese fishermen and historian D. Bradley claim to have seen drag marks on Filfla before it was bombed .

The Filfola lizard ( Podarcis filfolensis ssp. Filfolensis ) is endemic to Filfla .

Web links

Commons : Filfla  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ George Cini: Filfla too had a chapel dedicated to Our Lady. The Times of Malta , January 4, 2005, accessed February 3, 2020 .