Tal-Ħandaq is an area in

Qormi Qormi ( mt, Ħal Qormi ; pronounced in the Qormi dialect), also known by its title Città Pinto, is a city in the Southern Region of Malta, southwest of Valletta in the centre of the island. It has a population of 16,324 (as of March 2018), mak ...

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 is a low hill, situated on the left side of Mdina Road in Qormi. Places

Etymology

Tal Handak is the British spelling of the town of Tal-Ħandaq.

History

In the old days it was a rural area, with a few farms. In the 19th century, the British established a barracks up the hill. Between January 1947 and July 1978, Tal-Ħandaq was the site of the

Royal Naval School Tal-Handaq The Royal Naval School Tal Handaq was a school for children of personnel of the British Armed Forces posted to Malta between January 1947 and July 1978. Formerly known as the Naval Children's School and HM Dockyard Children's School, it had occu ...

. The site re-opened as a new school in September 1981 as the Liceo Vassalli Junior Lyceum.Photos of the school grounds and buildings at Tal-Handaq.
/ref> In the 1980s, the

Malta Environment and Planning Authority The Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA, mt, L-Awtorità ta' Malta dwar l-Ambjent u l-Ippjanar) was the national agency responsible for the environment and planning in Malta. It was established to regulate the environment and planning ...

(MEPA) started to issue permissions for houses to be built. However, after some residents settled there, plans were changed and Tal-Ħandaq was changed to an Industrial Zone and was renamed to ''Tal-Ħandaq Industrial Estate.

Present Day

Nowadays, although some residents and a few farms remain, the area has flourished with an extensive number of small businesses, the most common being panel beating and spray painting, stoneworks, steelworks and woodworks. There is also a film studio.

References

Geography of Malta Qormi {{Malta-geo-stub