Kirkop () is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

in the Western Region of

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 ...

. Located near the

Malta International Airport Malta International Airport is the only airport in Malta, and it serves the whole of the Maltese Islands. It is located on the island of Malta, southwest of the Maltese capital, Valletta, in the town of Luqa, and occupies the location of the f ...

, it has been inhabited since

pre-history Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use o ...

. The parish church is dedicated to

Saint Leonard Leonard of Noblac (also Leonard of Limoges or Leonard of Noblet; also known as Lienard, Linhart, Lenart, Leonhard, Léonard, Leonardo, Annard; died 559) is a Frankish saint closely associated with the town and abbey of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, ...

. The football team of the village is

Kirkop United Kirkop United Football Club is a Maltese Football team, football club based in Kirkop, Ħal Kirkop, Malta. The club currently plays in the Maltese National Amateur League, Maltese National Amateur League B. They also play in the annual Maltese FA ...

Etymology and population

Il-Lunzjata-the medieval Church of the Annunciation

The original name of the village was Casal Prokopju, and is retrieved from the registers of the Maltese militia that existed prior to the rule of the

Order of St John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

. Through generations, the local population corrupted the original name, which was changed to ''Kirkop''. The name of the village comes from the surname of a rich family.

History

Punic remains of catacombs are found around the village of Ħal Kirkop with some of them remain unexplored, and their exploration has been shelved. In 1969, anthropologist

Jeremy Boissevain Jeremy Fergus Boissevain (5 August 1928 – 26 June 2015) was a Dutch anthropologist. He was Emeritus Professor of Social Anthropology at the Amsterdam School for Social Science Research, University of Amsterdam. Academic background Boissevain ...

published a research on the social fabric of the village in his book ''Hal Farrug: a village in Malta''. Boissevain claims that the people of Ħal Kirkop have lived in the area for centuries because of his assumed comparable bloodline with ancient Phoenician. The Phoenicians occupied the Maltese islands around 700 B.C.. Ħal Kirkop was part of a larger community, as part of the parish of Bir Miftuħ, in the Middle Ages until the Early Modern period. However, on 29 May 1592, it was declared a parish on its own right. The village had a population of 2,260 people in March 2011. By March 2014 this had decreased slightly to 2,191 people. In 2021, the population was recorded at 2,527.

Places, buildings and structures

In Ħal Kirkop, one finds the Menhir monolith, which has become the symbol of the village, and a number of Paleo-Christian Catacombs. Other notorious buildings and structures are listed monuments which include; the Church of the Annunciation, the Parish Church of St. Leonard, the Chapel St. Nicholas at the cemetery, a cross column (Is-Salib tad-Dejma), and a number of niches scattered around the village. There are two WWII shelters below street level. There are two band clubs, the St. Leonard Band Club and the St. Joseph Band Club, which are used as recreation. Ħal Kirkop is home to an

STMicroelectronics STMicroelectronics Naamloze vennootschap, NV (commonly referred to as ST or STMicro) is a European multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the largest of such companies in Europe. ...

plant, whose production accounts for 60% of national exports.

Kirkop main roads

*Triq Ħal Safi (Safi Road) *Triq il-Belt Valletta (Valletta Road) *Triq il-Lewżiet (Almonds Street) *Triq ir-Ramlija (Sandy Street) *Triq It-Tielet Waqgha (Third Fall Road) *Triq l-Industrija (Industry Street) *Triq San Benedittu (St Benedict Street) *Triq l-Għaraq tad-Demm (Bloody Sweat Street) *Triq San Ġwann (St John Street) *Triq San Nikola (St Nicholas Street) *Triq Santu Rokku (St Rocco Street) *Triq Taż-Żebbiegħ (Taz-Zebbiegh Road)

Band clubs

*St Leonard's Band Club (L-Għaqda Mużikali San Leonardu) *St Joseph Band Club (Soċjetà Mużikali San Ġużepp Ħal Kirkop)

Zones in Ħal Kirkop

*Bonu ż-Żgħir *Il-Għadir (The Lake) *Menħir Estate (Menhir Estate) *Tal-Aħfar *Tal-Ibliq *Tal-Fieres *Tar-Robba *Tas-Sienja

Twin village

* Rousset, France

References

External links

Ħal Kirkop Local CouncilSt.Joseph Band Club, Ħal Kirkop
{{Authority control Towns in Malta Local councils of Malta