Gżira
Encyclopedia : G : GI : GIR : Gżira
Gżira is a town in the north-eastern coast of Malta, between Msida & Sliema. Gżira means Island in Maltese, and the town is named after Manoel Island which lies just adjacent to it. Manoel Island is itself named after Manuel de Vilhena, a Grandmaster of the Knights of Malta in medieval times and under whose leadership Fort Manoel was built.
In the past, Gżira used to be a working-class town with a stigma of prostitution. During the last decade, a large proportion of the old houses has been demolished and new, luxurious blocks of flats have been built. This led to an inflation of the housing prices, as the town became sought after by both Maltese and foreign settlers. The main reason behind the area's popularity is that it is fairly centrally located in Malta, being close to both the University Campus and the capital, Valletta.
The stigma of prostitution has started to fade, but there still is a small "red light district", near the waterfront. Despite that, the criminal rates are very low and the town is as safe as the rest of Malta & Gozo. Gzira's population has been fairly stable over the past few years, hovering around 8,000 people. New developments now feature various commercial outlets but then newcomers have been moving into apartments thus, the loss of people who have moved from townhouses has been compenstated by those who moved into the new apartments. The Manoel Island development shall further boost Gzira's commercial activity as well as its population. |Service industries, mainly car mechanics, commercial outlets and educational services are the town's main activities, yet Gzira shall most probably remain the gateway to Sliema, its nearby town. The parish church is dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Gzira became a parish in 1918, hiving off parts of Sliema and nearby Msida.
| [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit ] | Local Councils of Malta |
|
|---|---|---|
| Malta Island | ||
| Attard | Balzan | Birgu | Birkirkara | Birżebbuġa | Bormla (Cospicua) | Dingli | Fgura | Floriana | Gudja | Gżira | Għargħur | Għaxaq | Ħamrun | Iklin | Isla (Senglea) | Kalkara | Kirkop | Lija | Luqa | Marsa | Marsaskala | Marsaxlokk | Mdina | Mellieħa | Mġarr | Mosta | Mqabba | Msida | Mtarfa | Naxxar | Paola | Pembroke | Pietà | Qormi | Qrendi | Rabat | Safi | St. Julian's (San Ġiljan) | Santa Luċija | St. Paul's Bay (San Pawl il-Baħar) | San Ġwann | Santa Venera |Siggiewi| Sliema | Swieqi | Ta' Xbiex | Tarxien | Valletta | Xgħajra | Żabbar | Żebbuġ | Żejtun | Żurrieq
| ||
| Gozo Island | ||
| Fontana | Għajnsielem | Għarb | Għasri | Kerċem | Munxar | Nadur | Qala | Victoria (Rabat) | Ramla Bay | Saint Lawrence (San Lawrenz) | Sannat | Xagħra | Xewkija | Żebbuġ | ||
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.