The village 'pjazza' is dominated by the parish church and the two main band clubs- the Lily Band Club founded in 1911 and the King George V band Club founded in 1910. The facades of the clubs were a post-World War II addition. In fact the facade of the Lily Band Club was build in 1948 by the local master mason Baskal Xuereb while some years later the King George V club built its present facade under the direction of architect D' Amato.
The stone cross which dominates part of the 'pjazza' was constructed in commemoration of the death of Dun Angelo Mallia, parish priest of the village between 1676 and 1690. Himself from Imqabba, Mallia pushed forward the project for the building of a new church, which church was completed by 1689. The building of the church was carried out under the direction of Mario Briffa and his son John Mary. Four stone statues decorate the church parvis. These statues represent St. John the Evangelist, the Redeemer, the Immaculate Conception and St. Rocco. The latter statue was commissioned during the Plague which on various occasions visited Malta. The nearby statue of the Assumption of St. Mary was commissioned by Spiridione Schembri in the late 1940's.
Of an archaeological interest are a row of roundel carvings decorating the first house in Parish street. These are very similar to other 18th century carvings on the road form Hal Millieri to Mqabba. Some roundle carvings as the case of Mqabba, were of very high workmanship. Workshops producing such decorations were common and possibly found also in Malta. Most probably that these roundle carvings were extracted from older buildings and used later to decorate the Mqabba houses. |
A.D. 1911