page_title: Safi, Malta
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Safi, Malta / Culture
caption_attribution_description: English: Dar id-Djalogu (Dialogue House)
context_page_description: Safi is a village in the Southern Region of Malta, bordering Żurrieq and Kirkop. It has a population of 2,126 people as of March 2014.
  The formation of the village, as known today, goes back to the Punic-Roman period. The village of Ħal Safi is surrounded by four other major villages. Farmers and peasants used to interact on their way back home from work. After a niche was erected, people began to settle, a new village started to form and expanded over the years.
  In 1417, the village was already recorded as being named Ħal Safi. According to 1419 records of the Standing Army, counting between eighty and ninety people, were considered as village residents. The job occupations of the period were based on primary economy, mainly raising animal and agriculture.
  The origin of the village's name is uncertain. Some historians believe that the name derived from the pure air of the area, others insist it is due to its similarity to the City of Safi in Morocco, and others say since none of the residents were contaminated during an epidemic infection that hit vast zones in Malta.
context_section_description: In the past, the most common job occupied by Ħal Safi residents was in the agriculture sector. Others were soldiers employed by the Standing Army. Some others were sailors, builders, stonemasons, white-washers and quite a number of residents were street hawkers.
  Soon after the Second World War, many farmers left their fields to join the government sector. Nowadays, the work force is vaster and includes employees in the government sector, private sector, dry docks, factories. In addition, one can find several self-employed persons and contractors. Lately, the trend has changed and the number of University qualified people is always increasing earning high-profile jobs such as doctors, lawyers, teachers, accountants and management personnel. Farming  is now mostly done as part-time and to some extent more as a hobby than as a means of making a living.
  By the end of the Second World War, the street lanterns and the drinking fountains became obsolete, and instead, improved services such as electricity, sewage, postage mail, telecommunication, water and other services were introduced. In 1962, the construction of a new and modern school was initiated to replace the one situated in St. Paul’s Street.
  In the 80’s a playing field adjacent to the school was inaugurated, later refurbished with synthetic turf in 2000. In 1986, a public health clinic started to operate in Saint George Street. Moreover, the number of houses and consequently the number of residents is always increasing. In fact, from latest statistics, the population of Ħal Safi has reached one thousand and eight hundred persons. Furthermore, the number of retail outlets multiplied in the last few years. The most two common surnames in the village are Busuttil and Zammit.
  The village roads can be divided into two: the old ones, which formed part of the old village and the newly constructed ones. The older ones were all named after various saints, but on the other hand the recent ones were named using several other criteria.
  The climax of the social life is the celebration of the village festa, celebrated through the last week of August. The patron Saint of Ħal Safi is St. Paul. Like most villages, Ħal Safi residents had nobody representing them in central government. Since 1994, Ħal Safi has had its own Local Council which contributed in no small way to increasing the number of projects created for the benefit of Ħal Safi residents.
  There are few social clubs which happen to be frequented by the locals in the early evening hours. Passing through Ħal Safi one can remark the lack of social activity where the empty tranquil roads are often associated to a Gozitan village.
caption: Dar id-Djalogu, built during the Order of St. John, with coat of arms defaced during the French occupation, and now a political club of the Nationalist Party
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