page_title: Birgu
section_title: Attractions
hierarchical_section_title: Birgu / Attractions
caption_attribution_description: Malta, Hafen zwischen Senglea und Vittoriosa
context_page_description: Birgu, also known by its title Città Vittoriosa, is an old fortified city on the south side of the Grand Harbour in the South Eastern Region of Malta. The city occupies a promontory of land with Fort Saint Angelo at its head and the city of Cospicua at its base. Birgu is ideally situated for safe anchorage, and over time it has developed a very long history with maritime, mercantile and military activities.
  Birgu is a very old locality with its origins reaching back to medieval times. Prior to the establishment of Valletta as capital and main city of Malta, military powers that wanted to rule the Maltese islands would need to obtain control of Birgu due to its significant position in the Grand Harbour. In fact, it served as the base of the Order of Saint John and de facto capital city of Malta from 1530 to 1571. Birgu is well known for its vital role in the Great Siege of Malta of 1565.
  In the early 20th century, Birgu had a population of over 6000 people. Over the years this decreased, and the population stood at 2,629 in March 2014.
context_section_description: Birgu is the location of several tourist attractions. The historic Vittoriosa Waterfront contains the former Palace of the General of the Galleys and the Order of St John's treasury. The area was refurbished in the early 2000s, and both buildings are used for other activities: the former is now a casino, while the latter is home to the Malta Maritime Museum. A second museum, the Vittoriosa 1565 Museum, is also located in the town and is dedicated to the siege and the battle in the town in 1565.
   
  St. Lawrence's Church, one of several churches in the parish, was once the Conventual Church of the Order of St John. It is dedicated to St. Lawrence of Rome, and the feast is very popular among locals for the decorations in the local streets. The celebrations start on 31 July and continue till 10 August, the saint's feast day. Other churches in Birgu include the Monastery of St. Scholastica and the Our Lady of Annunciation Church which is run by the Dominican Order. This church is also known as St. Dominic's Church. The feast of Saint Dominic is held every last Sunday of August. The Freedom Monument commemorates the departure of British forces from the island in 1979. Birgu also contains five Auberges of the Knights, including the Auberge d'Angleterre, for some time the home of the English Knights of St John on the island, which now contains a public library.
  At the centre of the Grand Harbour, the 16th-century Fort St Angelo still stands and is currently undergoing restoration. The central piazza in Birgu was badly damaged by bombing during World War II, but one 19th-century palace thought to have been designed by Giuseppe Bonavia survives, and is used as the headquarters of the St Lawrence Band Club.
caption: Grand Harbour Marina
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Malta, Hafen zwischen Senglea und Vittoriosa", "Image Make": "PENTAX Corporation", "Image Model": "PENTAX K10D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "K10D Ver 1.30", "Image DateTime": "2011:10:06 10:23:35", "Image Artist": "Berthold Werner", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "b'GNU Lizenz f\\xfcr freie Dokumentation'", "Image ExifOffset": "3188", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[35, 53, 147/20]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "E", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[14, 31, 1711/100]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSAltitude": "13", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[8, 23, 35]", "GPS GPSSpeedRef": "K", "GPS GPSSpeed": "6831/2500", "GPS GPSMapDatum": "WGS-84", "GPS GPSDate": "2011:10:06", "Image GPSInfo": "3626", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 0, 33, 0, 1, 0, 22, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "3914", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6670", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/500", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:10:06 10:23:35", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:10:06 10:23:35", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "16", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3872", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2592", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "3883", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "24", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Hard", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "3"}