![Malta GC](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Malta_GC._Marsaxlokk-_1967_%288236813871%29.jpg)
Marsaxlokk () is a small, traditional
fishing village
A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 ...
in the
South Eastern Region
The South Eastern Region ( mt, Reġjun Xlokk) is one of five regions of Malta. The region includes the southeastern part of the main island of Malta, including the capital Valletta. The region borders the Central and Southern Regions.
It was ...
of
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
. It has a harbour, and is a tourist attraction known for its views, fishermen and history. As at March 2014, the village had a population of 3,534. The village is also known for the Marsaxlokk Market, which is mainly a large fish market which takes place along the seafront on Sundays, and a tourist market during all other days of the week. Inhabited and well-known since antiquity, Marsaxlokk was used as a port by
Phoenicia
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...
ns,
Carthaginians
The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...
and also has the remains of a
Roman-era harbour. Originally a part of the city of
Żejtun
Żejtun ( mt, Iż-Żejtun ) is a city in the South Eastern Region of Malta, with a population of 11,218 at end 2016. Żejtun is traditionally known as Città Beland, a title conferred by the grandmaster of the Order of the Knights of Malta, F ...
, the fishing village became a separate parish in the late nineteenth century.
Traditional
luzzi
Luzzi ( Calabrian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is loc ...
and other larger and more modern vessels line the sheltered inner harbour. The village is also popular among locals and tourists alike for its walks around the coast and harbour, its restaurants, as well as for its swimming zones. Marsaxlokk Bay also includes a
container freeport towards Birżebbuġa, a power station complex towards Delimara, and a small ship-repair facility for fishermen.
Marsaxlokk is sometimes referred to as ''Portus Herculis'', due to the association of Marsaxlokk Bay with the Roman and Punic remains at
Tas-Silġ
Tas-Silġ is a rounded hilltop on the south-east coast of the island of Malta, overlooking Marsaxlokk Bay, and close to the town of Żejtun. Tas-Silġ is a major multi-period sanctuary site with archaeological remains covering four thousand year ...
.
Toponymy
The name Marsaxlokk comes from the Arabic word ''marsa'', which means ''port'' and ''xlokk'', which is the Maltese word for ''south-east''. The word is related to the name for the dry
sirocco
Sirocco ( ), scirocco, or, rarely, siroc (see below) is a Mediterranean wind that comes from the Sahara and can reach hurricane speeds in North Africa and Southern Europe, especially during the summer season.
Names
''Sirocco'' derives from ...
wind that blows from the Sahara, comparable to the equivalent
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
word, ''xaloc''. The inhabitants of the village are called the ''Xlukkajri'' and are, traditionally, fishermen by trade.
Topography
Situated in the south-east end of the main island of Malta, Marsaxlokk bay is fed by a valley that drains the Marnisi and Ħal Ġinwi areas. The Marsaxlokk floodplain is one of the smaller ones on Malta. Today, a small marsh survives at the head of the bay, named ''Tal-Magħluq''. This may indicate that the bay may have been larger in the past and gradually silted up since antiquity. Although there are no sources from the medieval and early modern period to prove the existence of marshes in the area, a marshy environment survives at the head of the fishing harbour.
Sediment deposition over recent century has silted the bay, making it significantly more shallow than in antiquity. Researchers hypothesize that vessels of all sizes could once have sought shelter here. A sandy beach may have provided a landing place for small boats. A freshwater supply exists in the valley that lies between two of the three hills dominating the bay - namely to the north-east, north and north-west.
Access to plains around Żejtun would have been easy via this same valley, with a meandering road linking the bay to the
Żejtun Roman Villa. While the bay could only have been used as a temporary anchorage without human intervention, a simple sea wall may have enabled the harbour to be used as an all-weather anchorage. In antiquity, its main function would have been to serve the agricultural sites in the surrounding areas. It may also have enjoyed links with the Tas-Silġ sanctuary overlooking the bay.
History
![Marsaxlokk 1883](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Marsaxlokk_1883.jpg)
To the north-east of the village, on the rounded hilltop of
Tas-Silġ
Tas-Silġ is a rounded hilltop on the south-east coast of the island of Malta, overlooking Marsaxlokk Bay, and close to the town of Żejtun. Tas-Silġ is a major multi-period sanctuary site with archaeological remains covering four thousand year ...
, there is a multi-period sanctuary site covering all eras from the
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
to the fourth century AD.
The Tas-Silġ site includes megalithic remains, scattered edifices belonging to three distinct temples.
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...
describes the temple of Juno in Malta in his ''
In Verrem
"In Verrem" ("Against Verres") is a series of speeches made by Cicero in 70 BC, during the corruption and extortion trial of Gaius Verres, the former governor of Sicily. The speeches, which were concurrent with Cicero's election to the aedileshi ...
''.
The temple, long associated with the remains at Tas-Silġ, contained "a large number of ornaments among which was a carefully and supremely crafted ancient ivory statue of Victory." The presence of such ornaments is a clear indication of the importance of this temple not just locally but also on a
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
scale. Recent studies of the ceramics from Tas-Silġ led to conclusions that the sanctuary was used as a centre of exchange for both local and imported goods.
The remains atop the hill also include a more recent
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
basilica and monastery.
Little is known about the area during the Middle Ages, with all the
casalia
In the Middle Ages, a ''casalis'' or ''casale'' (Latin and Italian; Old French/Spanish ''casal''), plural ''casalia'' (''casali'', ''casales''), was "a cluster of houses in a rural setting". The word is not classical Latin, but derives from the Lat ...
of the south-eastern side of the island being exposed to frequent raids and attacks by
Saracen pirates and, later, raiders from the
Barbary coast. Modern historical studies and topology confirm that the area between Żejtun and Marsaxlokk was covered in vegetation and pasture land.
In the later Middle Ages, Marsaxlokk was included in medieval
portolani
A rutter is a mariner's handbook of written sailing directions. Before the advent of nautical charts, rutters were the primary store of geographic information for maritime navigation.
It was known as a ''periplus'' ("sailing-around" book) in cla ...
. At least three of these medieval sailing instructions, dating as far back as the 13th century mention, Marsaxlokk (as , and ). The Rizo portolan of 1490 gives sailing distances from Marsaxlokk to a variety of other ports in the Mediterranean including
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
,
Cephalonia
Kefalonia or Cephalonia ( el, Κεφαλονιά), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It i ...
and
Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to:
Cities and other geographic units Greece
*Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...
in
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
. This reflects the port's connectivity with other parts of the medieval Mediterranean.
The invading Ottoman navy anchored at Marsaxlokk during the
Great Siege of 1565, before they completed the attack on
Fort Saint Elmo
Fort Saint Elmo ( mt, Forti Sant'Iermu) is a star fort in Valletta, Malta. It stands on the seaward shore of the Sciberras Peninsula that divides Marsamxett Harbour from Grand Harbour, and commands the entrances to both harbours along with Fort ...
.
The whole harbour area was systematically fortified over successive centuries, with towers, batteries and fortresses ringing Marsaxlokk bay. This chain of fortifications was intended to protect the vulnerable harbour, and included
Vendôme Tower
Vendôme Tower ( mt, Torri Vendôme, colloquially ''Torri tal-Vandomu'') is a ''Redoubt, tour-reduit'' in Marsaxlokk, Malta. It was built by the Knights Hospitaller, Order of Saint John in 1715 as one of a series of coastal fortifications around ...
,
Fort Delimara
Fort Delimara ( mt, Il-Fortizza ta' Delimara) is a polygonal fort in Marsaxlokk, Malta. It was built between 1876 and 1888 by the British as part of a chain of fortifications intended to protect Marsaxlokk Harbour. Today, the fort is still intact ...
,
Delimara Tower
Delimara Tower ( mt, Torri ta' Delimara), originally known as ''Torre della Limara'', was a small watchtower on the Delimara Peninsula, in the limits of Marsaxlokk, Malta. It was built in 1659 as the tenth De Redin tower, and an artillery bat ...
,
Ta' Bettina Tower, and
Fort Tas-Silġ on Delimara point, on the north arm of Marsaxlokk Bay,
Fort San Lucian
Fort San Lucian ( mt, Forti San Luċjan), also known as Saint Lucian Tower ( mt, Torri ta' San Luċjan) or Fort Rohan ( mt, Forti Rohan), is a large bastioned watchtower and polygonal fort in Marsaxlokk, Malta. The original tower was built by th ...
on Kbira point in the middle of the bay, and the
Pinto
Pinto is a Portuguese language, Portuguese, Spanish language, Spanish, Sephardi Jews, Jewish (Sephardic), and Italian language, Italian surname. It is a high-frequency surname in all List of countries and territories where Portuguese is an officia ...
and
Ferretti batteries on the shores of the bay towards Birżebbuġa. The most prominent fortification of this chain, Fort San Lucian was built by 1611
and may have prevented a landing in the bay by Ottoman forces in 1614.
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's navy entered Marsaxlokk, and landed an army on the coast during the
French invasion of 1798.
During the
Maltese uprising - British, Neapolitan and Portuguese forces operated from here.
Horatio Nelson and his lover
Emma Hamilton
Dame Emma Hamilton (born Amy Lyon; 26 April 176515 January 1815), generally known as Lady Hamilton, was an English maid, model, dancer and actress. She began her career in London's demi-monde, becoming the mistress of a series of wealthy me ...
also stayed here from April to June 1800, visiting parts of the island.
Most of the fishermen who worked out of Marsaxlokk bay hailed from Żejtun, commuting back and forth from the shore. Around 1846, the first houses began to be built in Marsaxlokk, as fishermen from Żejtun settled there permanently. At the end of the nineteenth century, a church was built to minister to the spiritual needs of the fishermen and their families. Eventually, the fishing village of Marsaxlokk was separated from Żejtun and became a distinct parish in January 1897. The construction of the parish church started in 1890. It was built as a fulfillment of a promise made by Marquess Rosalia Apap Viani Testaferrata after she was saved from a violent storm at sea. The church was originally built in a rectangular form with the designs attributed to Dun Ġużepp Diacono. Marsaxlokk became an independent parish in 1897. The feast of our lady is held on the last Sunday of July. It includes a procession with the statue and a firework display.
In the 1930s, Marsaxlokk bay was used as a staging post by
four-engined Short C-Class flying boats of
Britain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
's
Imperial Airways
Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...
as they pioneered long-distance air travel to across the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
. During the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Marsaxlokk Bay was the base for the
Fleet Air Arm
The Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy and is responsible for the delivery of naval air power both from land and at sea. The Fleet Air Arm operates the F-35 Lightning II for maritime strike, the AW159 Wil ...
with a base at Kalafrana. In 1989, the
famous summit meeting between
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
and
US leaders
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...
and
George H.W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; p ...
was held
on board a ship anchored in the bay. Today, the village is framed by the fuel tanks and chimneys of the
Delimara Power Station
The Delimara power station is located near Marsaxlokk in the southeast of Malta and is the newest power plant in Malta. It was put into operation in 1992 and redeveloped in the 2010s.
Setup
The Delimara Power Station includes four electricit ...
, and the huge cranes of the
Malta Freeport Container Terminal.
In recent years, Marsaxlokk also developed as a modern seaside resort. The village includes a natural park at Xrobb l-Għaġin.
Cultural tradition
Marsaxlokk is also famous for the national boats which are the luzzu and the
kajjik
The ''kajjik'' or ''kajjikk'' is a traditional fishing boat from Malta. It developed in the 17th century from caïques which were used elsewhere in the Mediterranean. In the past, ''kajjikki'' were equipped with sails and oars, but today the fish ...
. They serve the fisherman on fishing near the shore and for fishing away from the shore they use another type of boat. Tourists also can take boat trips from Marsaxlokk to Delimara and Birzebbuġa.
Most of Malta's fish supplies are caught by fishermen coming from this port as about 70% of the Maltese fishing fleet is based there.
Swordfish,
tuna
A tuna is a saltwater fish that belongs to the tribe Thunnini, a subgrouping of the Scombridae ( mackerel) family. The Thunnini comprise 15 species across five genera, the sizes of which vary greatly, ranging from the bullet tuna (max len ...
, and '
lampuki
The mahi-mahi () or common dolphinfish (''Coryphaena hippurus'') is a surface-dwelling ray-finned fish found in off-shore temperate, tropical, and subtropical waters worldwide. Also widely called dorado (not to be confused with ''Salminus brasil ...
' are caught in abundance between spring and late autumn. On weekdays, the catch is taken to the fish-market in
Marsa, but on Sundays, fresh fish is sold by fishermen directly on the quay.
Zones in Marsaxlokk
Sports
Marsaxlokk F.C., formed in 1949, is the village's main
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team. It plays in the Maltese 2nd Division, with home games taking place at the
Ta' Qali Stadium
The National Stadium, locally also referred to as Ta' Qali, officially known as Grawnd Nazzjonali ( Maltese for ''National Stadium''), is a stadium located in Ta' Qali, Malta. The stadium, which also contains the headquarters of the Malta Footbal ...
. Marsaxlokk also has a
water polo
Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...
team, which dates to 1952.
Twin towns – sister cities
Marsaxlokk is
twinned with:
*
Cadeo
Cadeo ( Piacentino: or ) is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Piacenza in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about southeast of Piacenza. It has about 5,600 inhabitants. The name is d ...
, Italy
*
Leucate
Leucate (; oc, Leucata) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. It lies between the Mediterranean Sea and the lagoon Étang de Leucate.
Geography
Leucate is on the Mediterranean coast of France. It is part of the eastern C ...
, France
See also
*
St Paul's Tower and Chapel (Malta)
References
Bibliography
* Abela, Joe Dun ''Marsaxlokk''
*
* Grech, Joseph ''Marsaxlokk: 100 sena parroċċa''
* Gravina Joseph 'Wirt Marsaxlokk' a TVM 13 documentaries/programmes dedicated to the history of Marsax;okk covering varies historical sites such as 'Tas-Silg temples', Fortifications like Saint Lucian's Tower and Vendome Tower built by the Order of Saint John, English fortifications such as 'Tas-Silg Fort, Delimara Fortress and others on the peninsula, the parish church, and last but not least being a fishing village, a variety of fishing methods. Joseph Gravina is also the Founder/president of Marsaxlokk Heritage (NGO) founded in 2019.
External links
Malta Maritime Authority* https://www.visitmalta.com/en/info/marsaxlokk
* http://en.marsaxlokklc.com/village
{{Authority control
Towns in Malta
Local councils of Malta
Fishing communities
Mediterranean port cities and towns in Malta