Siġġiewi

Siġġiewi
(Città Ferdinand)
Basic data
State :	Malta
Gzejjer :	Malta Majjistral (Northwest Malta)
Distretti :	Western film
Area :	19,880,617 km²
Residents :	8721 ; (December 31, 2018)
Population density :	439 inhabitants / km²
ISO 3166-2 :	MT-55
Postal code :	SGW
Website :	www.siggiewi.gov.mt
politics
Mayor :	Robert Musumeci ( PN )

35.85475 14.43822Coordinates: 35 ° 51 ' N , 14 ° 26' E

Siġġiewi [ sɪˈd͡ʒɪːwɪ ] (or Is-Siġġiewi ) is a city and a municipality in southern Malta . It is located on a plateau inland, a few kilometers from the former capital of Malta, Mdina , and 10 km from today's capital, Valletta . Until 2001, Siġġiewi's motto was“Labore et Virtute” (work and virtue).

The Siġġiewi municipality extends to the south coast of the island.

history

In its demographic and topographic development, Siġġiewi followed the pattern of other Maltese villages. Before the arrival of the Knights of St. John in 1530, there were only a few scattered huts in the area. Little by little , the villages of Ħal Xluq , Ħal Kbir , Ħal Niklusi and Ħal Qdieri in the Siġġiewi parish disappeared and today only their secluded chapels remind of their former existence.

Siġġiewi was founded in the 14th century. On December 30, 1797, the Grand Master Ferdinand von Hompesch, at the request of the residents - brought up by the pastor Don Salvatore Curso - elevated the village to a city and named it after himself "Città Ferdinand".

The ruins of the former parish church of St. Nicholas of Bari can still be seen today. The new baroque parish church - named after the same saint - was built by the population, who also raised the necessary money between 1676 and 1693. It was designed by the Maltese builder Lorenzo Gafà , but has changed over the years. The portico and side aisles were added by Professor Nicola Żammit in the second half of the 19th century.

The main painting in the church was done by the painter Mattia Preti , "Il Calabrese", who was also responsible for the painting in the vault of St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta . The wooden statue that is carried through the streets by residents during the town festival (on the last Sunday in July) was created in 1737 by Pietro Felici. A few years earlier, in 1732, the same artist had designed the statue that still stands in the center of the forecourt today. At its foundation there is a prayer in Latin asking the saint to be gracious and to bless the fields that the faithful are diligently working.

tourism

Verdala palace

From Siġġiewi you can see the Summer Palace of the Inquisitor , built in 1625 by Onorato Visconti and renovated by Angelo Dorini in 1763. Today it is the official residence of the Prime Minister. The Palace of the Grand Master Verdale ( Verdala Palace ) is one of the residences of the President of the Republic. Then you will find the Buskett Gardens , an artificially created forest that the grand masters, such as Jean de la Valette , used as a hunting ground. Today it is the largest forest area in Malta.

In the old part of the city there are some niches with figures, some of which date from the mid-17th century.

You can see Filfla from the coast .

sons and daughters of the town

Pawlu Aquilina (1929–2009), poet and writer

Web links

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

Individual evidence

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

↑ History of the city coat of arms ( Memento of the original from September 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at www.siggiewi.gov.mt . Retrieved April 6, 2010 @1@ 2

[1] StatDB of the National Statistics Office Malta , accessed on August 1, 2020