In
the centre of the main island of Malta, on the slopes down the country’s old
capital of Mdina (Notabile) to the ‘new’ sixteenth century capital, Valletta
lies the gently slumbering romantic village of Ħ’Attard, traditionally famous
for its citrus orchards and gardens.
Hence its motto: ‘I perfume the
air with my blossoms’ (Florigera rosis
halo).
As a
municipality with its own local government structure since 1994, Ħ’Attard
covers a surface area of about seven square kilometres and has a growing
population nearing 10,000. It comprises
to its north, on the Mdina and Mosta side, the flat expanse known as Ta’ Qali;
and below it, in the direction of the village core, the area known as Ta’
l-Idward joining with Misraħ Kola, across from the valleys of Wied San Martin,
Wied Inċita and Wied Irmiedi, on the Żebbug
side. Down to its west, close to Wied
is-Sewda on the Qormi side, is an older part known as Tax-Xarolla and as Taħt
ir-Raħal; while to its East, up to Tal-Mirakli chapel on the Lija side, is the
relatively large zone called Ta’ Fġieni, which borders on the village core with
its seventeenth century parish church.
South of this is the Sant’Anton quarter, deriving its name from the
historic palace and botanic gardens of Sant’Antonio, which have long been a
symbol of Ħ’Attard.
Ħ’Attard
is mostly residential now but it comprises a good part, which is still
agriculture, even rural; another part is recreational parkland with open
gardens and national sports facilities.
Although not a market town in olden times, Ħ’Attard now hosts a thriving
‘national’ vegetable market known as ‘il-Pitkalija’ on the edge of Ta’ Qali,
several crafts shops, and a handful of small factories of recent origin. The Malta Financial Services Centre are
headquartered in the Ħ’Attard area, which is also serviced by supermarkets,
banks, various confectioneries, a leading garage, shops and stores, salons,
clinics.
In
terms of population, Ħ’Attard used to be the smallest of the ‘Three Villages’ -
the cluster of Ħ’Attard, Lija and Balzan, in the very centre of the main island
- but is now by far the largest of them.
Residents recall that it was from the mid-eighties onwards (when as we
have seen the population boomed further) that the village became more of a
hubbub of activity, partly due to the untiring efforts of a new parish priest
from 1986 to 1993, which have been carried forward by his successor, and
partly, no doubt, because Ħ’Attard was beginning to suffer from the symptoms of
its transformation from a rural village into a bursting town, and had to rise
to the challenge to survive as a community.
Ħ’Attard
continues to be a historic place, and a relatively peaceful one, with flowers
in blossom everywhere. Its own profile has been sharpened, its infrastructure
improved, and the secular dimension of social life heightened since the
introduction of the local government in 1994, but infrastructural needs,
including civic ones, have not kept pace with the all to rapid demographic
growth and ever-increasing urbanisation. In spite of its growth, the locality
has retained a human dimension with open spaces and some leafy streets, the
highest buildings being four storey social housing apartment blocks on the
edges.
Tucked
away from the boisterous seaside resorts and night spots, sloping gently down
from the hills above it, with a syncretic socio-cultural dynamism of its own,
symbolised by its elegant parish church, centralised by location and
circumstance, spurred on in recent years by the municipal network no less than
the parish pump, and the prospect of
‘opening up’ through twinnings with other towns, Ħ’Attard has had for
years one of the fastest-growing population rates in the Maltese Islands as
well as one of the highest levels of social mobility, with a record number of
teenagers proceeding to a university education.