Birzebbuga

It is one of the sixty-eight local councils that make up the current territorial organization of the Republic of Malta, which came into force in 1993. The name of the city means ‘land of olive trees’.

The city is well known for the discovered fossil remains of the glaciation, found in the Ghar Dalam Cave.

The town is popular for its sandy beach, Pretty Bay. The village is also notable for its important archaeological sites, especially Għar Dalam, Ta’ Kaċċatura and Borġ in-Nadur.

Għar Dalam cave is where the earliest evidence of human presence on Malta was discovered. Artefacts date back to the Neolithic Period some 7,400 years ago.

Also noteworthy is the parish church of Birżebbuġa, dedicated to Saint Peter and built in 1575, next to the Chapel of the Good Shepherd, the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception (1822), the Chapel of the Holy Family (1865), the Chapel of Our Lady Help of Christians (1839), the Chapel of Saint Joseph (1871), and the Church of Our Lady of Sorrows (1909), which served as a parish church until 1938.

Malta Holy Week is known worldwide for its Catholic traditions and the passion with which the population experience it, staging events and processions that leave both tourists and locals amazed. It is relevant to point out that there are more than 360 churches in an archipelago of just 300 square kilometers.

Birżebbuġa Holy Week is part of the Southern Regional Council, made up of a total of twelve localities that have in common, among other things, the celebration of the procession of the Virgin of Sorrows.