Żabable

Żabbar
(Ħaż-Żabbar)

coat of arms	map
Basic data
State :	Malta
Gzejjer :	Malta Xlokk (Southeast Malta)
Distretti :	Southern Harbor
Area :	5,349,343 km²
Residents :	15,431 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	2885 inhabitants / km²
ISO 3166-2 :	MT-64
Postal code :	ŻBR
politics
Mayor :	Agius Dominic ( MLP )

Coordinates: 35 ° 53 '  N , 14 ° 32'  E

Żabbar [ ˈzɐbːɐr ] (or Ħaż-Żabbar ) is the fifth largest city in Malta with 15,431 inhabitants (as of December 31, 2018) . It was originally part of Żejtun , but then it was given the title of Città Hompesch by Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim , the last Grand Master of the Order of Malta to rule Malta .

Origin of the name

The name of the city is believed to derive from the Maltese word 'niżbor', which means cutting trees. In fact, a number of families specializing in żbir (tree pruning ) lived near this village in the Middle Ages . But there are also other explanations for the origin of the name, including that "Żabbar" was the name of an important family in this area, or that Ħaż-Żabbar is derived from Ħas-Sabbar (English: comforter village), because people from all parts of the island visited this village to pray to its patron saint, Our Lady of Graces (Eng .: the gracious Mother of God) for comfort.

history

Cannonball in a house facade in the old town

After the French occupation of Malta, the Maltese people soon stalked their rule and tried to get rid of it. A famous battle took place right in front of the church of vonabbar. To this day, cannonballs from the French era can be seen stuck in the walls of houses in the older parts of the city, and some that were taken from the dome of the old church can also be admired in the church museum.

During the British occupation, some forts and fortifications were built in this area, e.g. B. Fort San Rocco, Fort St Leonardo , Delle Grazie Battery and Żonqor Battery .

Fort San Rocco was built from 1873 to 1875. It was later expanded and equipped with three cannons. Fort St Leonardo also received six cannons, later two. These two forts guarded the nearby sea areas. The two fortifications, along with the Rinella Battery with its famous 100-ton Armstrong cannon, also protected the area.

Recent history

On October 14, 1975, the so far last of the great "graces" came over barabbar, when an Avro Vulcan , a military aircraft of the 9th RAF squadron "Wadington", exploded over the city and many parts in a school and a wing filled with Aviation fuel fell on Sanctuary Street, the main street. Fortunately, the children were on their lunch break and none of them were at school (at that time students were still spending their lunch break at home and returning to school in the afternoon). The whole accident, which also affected other parts of the city due to the terrible explosion, resulted in only one fatality, who was hit by a power cable that tore down the crashed airplane wing. Many wreckage can the museum be visited in the city.

Culture

Like the whole island, the city is Catholic. “ Our Lady of Grace” is especially venerated, to which the Church of Our Lady of Graces is dedicated. A large number of paintings and other works of art can be seen in the city's church museum . Most of them are marked with the letters VFGA , the abbreviation of Votum fecit, gratiam accepit , which means that one has prayed for grace and received it through the intercession of the Madonna tal-Grazzija . These votive paintings - called ex-votos - are one of the largest collections of images of shipping scenes and reveal many details of the ships from the time of the Knights of Malta. Mattia Preti's painting in the city's museum is particularly splendid and priceless.

Żabbar is also famous for its town festival on the first Sunday after September 8th ( the birth of the Virgin Mary ), which also includes a bicycle and motorcycle pilgrimage that begins in Rabat and Mosta . This is because Our Lady of Graces is the patroness of two-wheelers. There is fierce competition between the city's two band clubs, the Società Filarmonica Maria Mater Gratiæ (the blue ones ) and the Għaqda Madonna Tal-Grazzja Banda San Mikiel (the green ones ).

Sports

The main football club in Żabbar is St. Patrick's FC .

Personalities

Well-known personalities of Żabbar include Agatha Barbara , the former president, and Frans Chetcuti from the Ministry of Education.

Population development

Because of the steadily growing population (which has doubled in the last two decades) a new parish, St. Andrews, was established in Żabbar. Even the suburb of Xgħajra , which 30 years ago only had 150 inhabitants, has now grown to almost 1,000. Therefore it was separated from Żabbar and made a community of its own. Also Marsaskala or Wied il-Ghajn, now a bustling port city in the south of Żabbar, was once a fishing village and part of Żabbar.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ StatDB of the National Statistics Office Malta , accessed on August 1, 2020