Ħamrun

Ħamrun
(Il-Ħamrun)

coat of arms	map
Basic data
State :	Malta
Distretti :	Northern Harbor
Area :	1,053,754 km²
Residents :	9743 (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	9246 inhabitants / km²
ISO 3166-2 :	MT-18
Postal code :	HMR
Website :	http://il-hamrun.com
politics
Mayor :	Christian Sammut

Coordinates: 35 ° 53 '  N , 14 ° 29'  E

Ħamrun ( Maltese Il-Ħamrun ) is a town south of the port region of the island of Malta , whose inhabitants have been called Tas-Sikkina ( German : from the knife ) since ancient times .

history

The oldest archaeological finds in Ħamrun are some tombs carved into the rock, which are dated to the Punic period.

When Malta was ruled by the Order of St. John (1530–1798), officials, knights and wealthy people used the area for hunting and land games. A hill called Tas-Samra played a role in the Maltese revolt against the French occupation in 1798–1800.

In the middle of the 19th century the region began to develop and was known as "Casale San Giuseppe" (Eng .: 'Village of St. Joseph'). To this day, the main street of Ħamrun is called St. Joseph High Street . This street is one of the main shopping streets in Malta.

In 1875 a new church was consecrated in honor of St. Kajetan . In 1881 the settlement became its own parish and thus its own political community. During this time it was also renamed Inamrun. The origin of this name is not known, but one thesis says that the name is derived from the Maltese ħamrija ħamra (English: 'red earth'), for which the settlement was famous. Another thesis assumes that the name goes back to the nickname of a well-known family "tal-Ħamruna".

During the Second World War , people from the region around the ports found refuge in Ħamrun, and Ħamrun was one of the largest cities in Malta until the 1970s. It is an economic center in which one can find furniture stores and supermarkets in particular, which are mainly grouped along St. Joseph High Street.

politics

Council Election 2015

 %

60

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

59.32%

40.68%

PL

PN

The Local Council consists of seven elected members. In the 2015 local elections, the Partit Laburista (Labor Party) won four seats and the Partit Nazzjonalista (Nationalist Party) three seats. The voting diagram opposite shows the proportion of votes. The turnout was 73.3%.

Churches

Parish Church of St. Kajetan

Our Lady of Atocja Chapel is the oldest chapel in Ħamrun. It was built in the early 17th century by the merchant who brought the image of the Black Madonna of Atocha in Spain to Malta. The inhabitants of Ħamrun call them Tas-Samra .

The chapel of Porto Salvo was built in 1736 and consecrated as a village chapel. It is kept in a baroque style. Today the chapel is mainly used for the adoration of the Holy Eucharist . The locals call it Ta 'Santu Nuzzo .

The parish church of St. Kajetan was built in the second half of the 19th century. Originally it was supposed to be dedicated to St. Joseph, but Bishop Gaetano Pace Forno wanted to name it after his patron saint. It is built in a neo-Gothic style. Emvin Cremona painted the interior. The statue of St. Kajetan was created by Carlo Darmanin.

The Church of St. Francis of Assisi was built by the St. Francis Congregation in the 1950s.

The parish church "At the Immaculate Conception" was built in the 1960s for the growing population of Ħamrun. Architecturally, it is kept very simple. In 1973 it became the first parish church on the “New Catechetical Way”, which spread from there to 26 parishes in Malta, including the parish of St. Kajetan. Together these two communities have 13 communities with around 450 members.

schools

Ħamrun has the largest concentration of schools in Malta. The oldest schools are the state primary schools (for students from 3 to 11 years old). The oldest primary school dates from the middle of the 19th century. Its entrance is decorated with the busts of Queen Vistoria and Prince Albert . The other primary school was built around 1920.

Maria Regina Girls' Junior Lyceum was built in the late 1950s.

Dun Guzepp Zammit Brighella Boys 'Junior Lyceum (boys' high school ) can trace its origins back to 1590. His coat of arms still shows parts of the coat of arms of Bishop Garagallo. Originally this school was in Valletta . The new building was erected in the early 1950s.

Maria Assunta Girls' Secondary School is one of the largest schools in Malta. This school was built in the 1960s with the help of UNESCO .

Adelaide Cini Girls 'School was another girls' school in Ħamrun. It was only closed a few years ago. Today there are boys housed there who might want to go to the MA Vassalli Boys' Junior Lyceum .

Maria Teresa Nuzzo Girls' School was a school for girls with learning disabilities between 11 and 16 years of age. It was housed in the same buildings as the primary school from the 1920s. About 100 students were taught there. But it was closed in 2005.

Our Lady Immaculate Girls' School is a church school for girls ages 4 to 16. She was maintained by the Franciscan Sisters.

St. Joseph's Girls School is also a church school for girls ages 4 to 16.

Public transportation

Some historical public transport stops in Ħamrun. The most remarkable of these was the Valletta – Mdina railway line , which was called "Il-Vapur ta 'l-Art" (English: steamship on land). Today the old train station is used as the headquarters of the Ħamrun Scout Group (one of the oldest scout groups in the world) and as a production facility for dairy products (Malta Dairy Products Ltd., brand name: Benna).

There was also a tram going through runamrun. The city does not have a bus station, but lines 71, 74, 75, 80, 81, 84, 87, 88, 89, 90 and 91 all go through Ħamrun.

Sports

Ħamrun is also known for its football club, the Ħamrun Spartans , which play their home games in the Victor Tedesco Stadium . There is also the Ħamrun Liberty basketball club .

partnership

Ħamrun's partner municipality is Scilla in the Italian region of Calabria .

sons and daughters of the town

• Oreste Kirkop (1923–1998), opera singer and actor
• Charles Camilleri (1931–2009), Maltese composer
• Louis Grech (* 1947), Maltese politician of the social democratic Malta Labor Party (MLP)
• Roberto Camilleri Azzopardi (* 1951), priest and bishop of Comayagua
• David Camilleri (born 1974), football player
• Roderick Bajada (born 1983), football player
• Ryan Fenech (born 1986), football player
• Kurt Calleja (* 1989), singer and composer

Web links

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

• Website of the Ħamrun Spartans (Maltese)
• Website of the Ħamrun Scout Group (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ StatDB of the National Statistics Office Malta , accessed on August 1, 2020
2. ↑ Local Council Election 2015 - Il-Ħamrun
3. ^ Il-Ħamrun Local Council - Twinnings