page_title: St Thomas' Bay
section_title: Munxar headland
hierarchical_section_title: St Thomas' Bay / Munxar headland
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Deze kaart van Malta werd uitgegeven door Nicolaes Visscher II (1649-1702). Het eiland Malta was vooral bekend door de militair, religieuze ridderorde van de Johanniters die daar gevestigd was. Het wapenschild van de orde is op de kaart afgebeeld. Na de kruistochten waarin zij zich als ziekenbroeders hadden onderscheiden, hielden de Johanniters zich naast hun traditionele taken, vooral bezig met de beveiliging van de Middelandse Zee tegen Turkse indringers.; Linksonder een inzet met een overzichtskaart van het Middelands Zeegebied. English: The map of Malta was published by Nicolaes Visscher II (1649-1702). The island Malta was generally known for its military, religious knight order of the Johanniters who had established themselves on the island. After the Crusades during which they distinguished themselves as hospital helpers, the Johanniters took care to secure the Mediterranean Sea against the Turks. This is a zoomed in version of the map, on the south eastern corner.
context_page_description: St Thomas' Bay, also known as the Bay of Żejtun, is a bay in southeastern Malta, located in the limits of the seaside town of Marsascala, formerly in the limits of Żejtun.
context_section_description: Munxar headland (Maltese: Ras il-Munxar) is a rock-bound peninsula on the southern edge of the bay. The headland takes its name from a number of stacks, long since eroded into submerged reefs, which used to extend into the Mediterranean sea from Munxar point. The old Italian placename for the stacks jutting out of the headland was La Serta (English: The Wreath). In other maps, the group of stacks is called La Serra, that is, 'the saw.' The Maltese word for saw is 'Munxar.' The headland is an unspoiled part of the Delimara peninsula, facing St. Thomas' Bay. It has a number of terraced fields, and commands good views of the bay from its heights. The fields are typical Maltese agricultural land, consisting of small plots. The soil depth is less than two feet on average, containing mainly silty-sandy soil. The plots are terraced on levels with rubble walls. As Munxar lacks water supply, the site is only viable to be cultivated by winter crops like fodder.  Part of the promontory forms part of a designated national park, and the headland is a scheduled Area of High Landscape Value.  Munxar headland is close to the recorded megalithic remains at Xrobb l-Għaġin, and includes a number of fortifications, including St. Paul's tower and chapel.
  In 1995, the land was proposed for development into a tourist village, but the plans were successfully resisted by residents and activists of the surrounding villages, and were shelved in 1996.  More recent applications were filed for an agri-tourism village and for solar farms. These were either deemed incompatible with the area or withdrawn.
caption: In this 1681 map, the name La Serta is used to describe the stacks and reefs at the tip of Munxar Bay.
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "5500", "Image ImageLength": "4537", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CC 2015 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2019:07:16 18:20:57", "Image Padding": "[]", "Image ExifOffset": "2308", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "4618", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8815", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:12:18 14:18:31", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:12:18 14:18:31", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1054", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "778", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}