Fleur-de-Lys is a suburb that forms part of

Birkirkara Birkirkara (abbreviated as B'Kara or BKR) is a city in the Eastern Region, Malta, Eastern Region of Malta. It is the second most populous on the Malta (island), island, with 24,356 inhabitants as of 2020. The town consists of five autonomous pari ...

, and is also considered a suburb of

Santa Venera Santa Venera is a town in the Southern Region, Malta, Southern Region of Malta, with a population of 8,834 (2021). It is located between the towns of Birkirkara and Ħamrun, and also borders Qormi and Msida. History The Old Church of Santa Ven ...

and

Qormi Qormi (, , ), also known by its title Città Pinto, is a city in the Southern Region, Malta, Southern Region of Malta, southwest of Valletta in the centre of the island. It has a population of 16,324 (as of March 2018), making it Malta's fifth-la ...

. It lies approximately 5 kilometers from

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

's capital,

Valletta Valletta ( ; , ) is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 Local councils of Malta, council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta’s capital ...

. The population of Fleur-de-Lys is about 2,200 people and the area is very small.

History

Wignacourt Aqueduct

Fleur-de-Lys' origins date back to the early 17th century. In 1610, Grandmaster

Alof de Wignacourt Fra Alof de Wignacourt (1547 – 14 September 1622) was a French people, French nobleman who was the 54th Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, Order of St. John of Jerusalem from 10 February 1601 to ...

financed the building of the

Wignacourt Aqueduct The Wignacourt Aqueduct () is a 17th-century Aqueduct (water supply), aqueduct in Malta, which was built by the Knights Hospitaller, Order of Saint John to carry water from springs in Dingli and Rabat, Malta, Rabat to the newly built capital ci ...

to transport water from springs in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

and Dingli to the capital

. The aqueduct was finished in 1615, and an ornamental gateway known as the Wignacourt Arch (or Fleur-de-Lys Gate) was built where it crossed the road. This had three sculpted fleurs-de-lis on top, as they were the heraldic symbols of Wignacourt. The suburb was later named after these heraldic symbols on the arch. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the archway was severely damaged when it was hit by an RAF lorry in 1943 and a truck in 1944. The ruined archway was demolished and the stones were stored and numbered at the Public Works Department. A roundabout was later built in its place. Plans for reconstructing the arch were made a number of times, before being finally approved in 2012. The local councils of Santa Venera and Birkirkara, as well as the Fleur-de-Lys Administrative Committee disagreed on what the arch's name should be, and eventually agreed in 2014 that it should be called "The Wignacourt Arch Known As The Fleur-de-Lys Gate". The arch was rebuilt in 2014 and 2015, and inaugurated on 28 April 2016.

Development of the suburb

After the building of the aqueduct, a number of farmers settled in the area. For years the only buildings were a few farmhouses surrounded by fields. Fleur-de-Lys began to develop in the Second World War. Many refugees from the

Grand Harbour The Grand Harbour (; ), also known as the Port of Marsa, is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It has been substantially modified over the years with extensive docks ( Malta Dockyard), wharves, and fortifications. Description The h ...

area fled to rural areas, including Fleur-de-Lys, after the Harbour area was devastated by bombs. By 1941 the British had built Fleur de Lys Battery in the area armed with anti-aircraft artillery. Various government offices were transferred to Fleur-de-Lys in the 1940s. After the war the area grew into a small hamlet. In 1946, the church dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel was inaugurated. It became autonomous from Santa Venera in 1949 and became a parish in 1975. Other chapels were later built in Fleur-de-Lys, including those in the Sisters of the Sacred Heart Convent and one in St Monica School. Nowadays the suburb contains several small shops, a parish church and a BOV and an HSBC bank. The main road, Fleur-de-Lys Road, is now a major artery to Malta's local traffic system. The Fleur-de-Lys Administrative Committee was created in December 1999 by an amendment to the Local Councils Act of 1993.

References

{{Malta-LocalCouncils Birkirkara Populated places in Malta