St. Julian's

St Julian's (Maltese: San Ġiljan) is a town in Malta situated along the coast, north of the country's capital, Valletta. It is known for tourism-oriented businesses, such as hotels, restaurants and nightclubs, centred mostly in an area known as Paceville.

History

Before 1800 there was practically nothing standing in the area today called San Ġiljan, except for Spinola Palace, the old church, and a few fishermen’s huts and farmers’ dwellings dotting the countryside.

However in the area known as Mensija (located in suburb called San Gwann) one finds a set of cart-ruts of the late Bronze Age period. Of the Roman period one finds also a couple of tombs discovered by P.F.Bellanti in the early 20th century in the Tal-Ballut district on the site now occupied by the Chapel of the Sacred Heart Convent. One finds also the remains of a round Roman tower, one in a chain of some eight other similar ones on Malta; this lies at ta’ Cieda at the top of present-day Triq il-Korvu, Kappara. This site was later used as a Saracenic burial ground. There are also Arab influences such as the name of the valley – Wied Ghomor. Both tal-Ballut - name of a type of tree, and tas- Sliema are Muslim personal names in Sicily.

Because of fear of attacks by the Muslims, the Northern Coastal area remained undeveloped until the diminished attacks after 1565. The building of Spinola Palace, coming as it does in 1688, is to be regarded as the stepping stone for the coastal reclamation of San Ġiljan. The palace, together with the surrounding gardens, was built by Fra Paola Raffaele Spinola for the public entertainment as stated in the inscription which one finds above the portico. The palace was enlarged in 1733 through the efforts of Fra Giovanni Battista Spinola, Bali of the order and successor to his uncle as rector and Curator of the abbazia. During the French occupation of these islands in 1798, French troops were stationed in the palace and wrought havoc there. In fact it is thanks to them that the Order’s emblem atop the clock on the façade was mutilated.

The Old Parish Church

The earliest documentary evidence of this church is of the pastoral visit of Bishop Tommaso Gargallo of 1601, which he says was built in 1580 and was dedicated to Saint Julian. In 1736, when Monsignor Alpheran de Bussan re-visited Saint Julian's, he noted that the locality was already known as Portus Sancti Juliani, meaning after the patron saint, evidence that the previous medieval name Qaliet Gnien il-Fieres was placed aside. In 1854, the 600 residents of Saint Julian's appealled to the church authority, in order to make it a parish. The chapter at Birkirkara protested strongly against such an application and consequently the application was denied; but it was granted at reapplication in 1891. Dun Guzepp Scerri became the first parish priest.

Patron Saint

The town is named after the patron saint of the town, Saint Julian, widely known as Julian the Hospitaller and also as Julian the Poor. Before the reform to the Calendar of Saints, the memorial to St Julian was on January 27. Nowadays, the is celebrated on February 12, though in Malta an additional feast, in the spirit of the many summer festas around the island, is celebrated on the last Sunday of August.

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Write by: AN - Friday, October 17, 2014