The People, Thursday, August 21, 1997 13

Historical Background of Birkirkara; ''From Yesterday to Tomorrow" I Birkirkara is one of the older villages of . mander of the British forces that had come •••••• As such its origins can be traced back to the in aid of the Maltese. After this Malta Middle Ages. became a British possession. However traces of human habitation in or around The British soon assumed all authority in ·the locality goes back some millennia, testifying the islands. But the Maltese started their among others to the presence of the people, that in long and unabated fight for their Jost rights, Malta were to finally achieving independence in 1964. develop the extra- This was not to be however, before a second ordinary culture, siege by Axis air and sea forces during which produced World War t wo. During this time, the first free· Birkb:kara was one of the main inland standing, stone- towns receiving refugees from the worst-hit built monuments harbour area, although itself suffe1·ed its in the world. share in the toll due to enemy air incur- lnhabitants of the sions. Phoenician and Roman periods The Train have left theirl~~~l::S::~::J:S:!!'.:E~ Up to 1931 Malta had its own railway line mark in the place that ran from to the ancient capital The church possesses various noteworthy works of too. - in the heart of the island. It was a single art. These include no less than fourteen paintings by Evidence for ne.arly all the first millennium after track but at this place, which was then one of the sta­ the Maltese baroque genius, Francesco Zahra. Of the the fall of the Western Roman Empire is very scant tions en-route, the track was double to allow trains various proces­ throughout the islands. This holds true also for . coming from opposite directions to overtake. sional statues. Bil'kirkara. But in the later Middle Ages we find Mention must Birkirkara as a definite demographic entity, and be made of the already being known by this name. poly chrome By the beginning of the fifteenth century, the wood statues Maltese ecclesiastical authorities constituted of S. Joseph Birkirkar~ and the surrounding area as a separate (1926) and parish. that of S. Helen (1831). HospitaUers Thi s last However, even up to the first decades of the pres­ statue was _____ ence of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John in Malta, donated by Vincenzo Borg, local patriot and leader from 1530 on, the islanders still led a precarious exis­ during the blockade of the French (1798-1800). tence because of unexpected Corsair raids. This cul­ S. Helen's is the seat of a capitular chapter erected minated in the great Turkish invasion of 1565, which in the old parish church in 1630 through the efforts though unsuccessful, left the island in a ruinous of Don Filippo Borg. It was granted basilicalstatus in state - Birkirkara itself not excepted. 1950. After this, the Knights had definitely decided to ---.....;..~ Like all other Maltese towns and villages, stay in Malta and started to build a new capital city Birkirkara also has its characteristic festas. In fact - Valletta. This was followed in subsequent years by every major church here celebrates its own festa. But various military and infrastructural projects, which The Turn of the Century without doubt, the principal feast is that of St. together with the practice of privateering, brought a By the turn of the century, Birkirkara found itself Helena which is cele-______period of relative prosperity undergoing a slow though radical change. Up to then, brated in August. For to the islands. the local popuJation was about 8,000 and mainly this occasion, not This was naturally engaged in agricultural and allied activities. only the church is extended to the villages as But better job opportunities attracted workers decorated but also well. A higher standard of from further afield to the harbour areas and when many streets in the living started to be experi­ the immediate vicinity of Valletta was saturated, centre of the town. enced, especially in a bet- Birkirkara was found to be a convenient place of res­ The statue of ter type of housing. idence by employees in the harbour industrial and B'Kara's patron St. - Besides, from the early British military establishments. Helen is carried in seventeenth century Agriculture hereafter began to be regarded by the procession every onwards practically all many as a part-time supplementary activity. Better 18th August as part the older villages started communications, which for about half a century of the feast celebra­ building new parish included a tions. ' churches, which were to l i m i t e d r--~~---~"":""~ be the main landmark railway The Feast of - and the pride of each s er v i c.e, B'kara community. that was Birkirkara's feast One of the very first later to be is individual in that of these was the Old Parish supplanted the procession takes church of Birkirkara dedicated to the by better place in the morning Assumption of the Virgin. It was built in the charac­ roads and instead of in the teristic belated renaissance style that flourished a bus ser­ evening. By eight under the auspices of the Knights in the first fifty vice, had in o'clock the church years or so after the Great Siege. In this church too, the mean­ square is thronging­ the first collegiate in Malta was established in 1630. time made with locals and visi­ this possible, The population figure for Birkirkara tors who make it a Baroque Church which continually grew now stands at 22,000 or point to be there in But hardly a century later, the people ofBirkirkara thereabouts. · spite of yesternight's started to build a new and larger church in the late hours and of the baroque style. This church dedicated to Saint Helen, St. Helen's Collegiate Basilica unrelenting scorch­ is still the principal church of the town. It was begun in 1727 and has a three-bayed facade ing sun. The Order's rule iriMalta was abruptly terminated of superimposed composite and Corinthian pilasters The last instants of when Napolean himself took over the islands for with a projecting centrepiece. It is topped by a this event are the France in 1798. The vicissitudes and depredations of restricted ornate pediment and twin florid belfries most momentous, as the subsequent three months led to .an all-out insur­ with statues that add to the flamboyant effect. It was the statue, carried rection by the Maltese in the countryside. The blessed in 17 45 but was not finished before 1866. shoulder high, comes French garrison was pinned down behind the fortifi­ Inside, it has a cruciform shape with a three-bayed back into the square cations of Valletta and the harbour cities, which nave and side chapels. The twin ribbed vaults and and is taken up on N apolean had coveted so much. They withstood the the dome were all frescoed by roman artist Virginio the parvis amid a siege for two years and finally capitulated to the corn- Monti (1910). rapturous applause.