Located in the Southern part of the Maltese Islands, the seaside resort of Birzebbugia has long been a favourite get-away for the Maltese. Since 1436 Birzebbugia fell under the jurisdiction of the Parish of Gudja and it was only in 1913 that Birzebbugia was recognised as a Parish in its own right. It also incorporates the nearby villages of Hal Far, Binghasa and Kalafrana.In 1913 when it was established as a Parish, the population was around 1,000 people and by 1961 this had grown to 5,239 and current estimates of the population of Birzebbugia stand at C. 8,000.
The name "Birzebbugia" is related to the olive trade since in Maltese, olives are called "zebbug". Since the Middle Ages, olive groves were abundant in this area. Many maintain that 'Birzebbugia' is the result of the transformation of the words "Bur" "Zebbug" - which means land of the olives. Another interpretation is that 'Birzebbugia' meant 'Bir Taz-Zebbug' i.e. a well of olive oil. Whatever the real reason, it is clear that Birzebbugia has always been associated with olives although today the olive trees are noticeable by their absence!
8 comments:
That monument and roundabout must be a recent addition becaue I don't remember them being there. It all looks very nice.
Rosanne, this has been done in the beginning of this summer. I can't say I really like it myself but glad you do :)
That's a pretty roundabout — is the thing in the middle a well? Very interesting information you shared, Dina, thank you. Very sad about the olive trees though.
Hilda, yes that's a well and next to it there is an olive tree.
And where is this roundabout situated?
Interesting to see how similar maltese and tunisian dialect are. Though the prevalent word for olive/olive tree is "Zejtun", in some few cases the word Zebbug is also used (tunisian often tend to replace the G withs Z which leeds to the word Zebbuz). We also use the word Bebbux for snails, we eat Hobz Biz-Zejt (though it's really only bread with olive oil), we drink Ruggata, eat Bajtar (figs) and like Maqrut/Imqaret among others (there's much more common words).
Zen, this is situated before the main street driving up towards the parish church.
Soly Z, yes Maltese language does have some common words with Italian and arabic languages.
Such a shame the olive trees are no longer so abundant there. I would love to see old pictures of the area. Hope you are having a nice weekend Dina.
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