St Paul's Bay (Malta)

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Overview

Things to do

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The history of the northern stretch of Malta is much less in-your-face than other parts of the island, in fact, with the exception of a tiny area of St Paul's Bay and a couple of towers left over from the time of the Knights, there is little of historical value to see. Until the early 1800's, the north of the island was virtually uninhabited, at the beginning of the 20 th century there were fewer than 200 people living there as fishermen. A small collection of fishing boats is still in use at St Paul 's Bay which gives the place a momentarily quaint, picturesque aspect.

The St Paul 's Bay that exists today is a long way from the events that named the place back in AD 60. According to the Bible, St Paul 's ship ran aground on its way from the Holy Land to Rome . St Paul was treated so well by the Maltese that he thanked them by removing the venom from the islands' poisonous snakes forever.

Bugibba and inner Qawra are extremely popular with the budget-conscious, particularly older couples. The Qawra coast is more upmarket.

There is a vast choice of hotels and self-catering apartments. New developments include many aparthotels and complexes that allow the independence of self-catering but with the facilities of a hotel.

St Paul's Bay is Malta's largest popular summer resort and can be divided into 4 areas.

XEMXIJA- a quieter, sunny area on the SE-facing side of St Paul's Bay, spread along the uphill road to Mellieha. A popular site for the more affluent Maltese to have their summer homes.

THE OLD TOWN- mainly residential, with little tourist accommodation or amenities. There is still an old, picturesque little fishing harbour.

BUGIBBA- a highly built-up area, chock-a-block with mainly tourist-class hotels and apartment blocks. Supporting shops, bars, cafes and amenities sprawl along the unsophisticated seafront promenade.

QAWRA- a newer tourist area spreading from the Salina Bay coast to meet up with Bugibba. Again, highly built up and with its somewhat smarter shops and amenities mostly along the sea front.

Locality:

St Paul's bay is 11 mls NW of Valletta and 12 mls from the airport. It is situated on the NE coast between St Julian's and Mellieha, this area covers the large promontory between Salina Bay and St Paul's Bay.

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There are no sandy beaches in the area, but good bathing from large, flat rocks or the hotels' seaside lidos. Bugibba has beach bars and there are excellent water sports available in Bugibba, Qawra and Xemxija. The nearest sandy beach is at Golden Bay, 5½ mls from Bugibba.

Bugibba is the main shopping centre, offering the usual range of tourist souvenirs and plenty of supermarkets.

Daytime offers a host of water sports and horse riding in Qawra.

Evenings give us a variety of places to go. Bugibba is the main centre of activity, with discos and karaoke bars, but each area has its own bars and cafes, and the larger hotels hold barbecues and entertainment. A couple of the hotels in Qawra have nightclubs.

All the area is well provided with tourist cafes and simple restaurants. Old St Paul's Bay offers a choice of good, more sophisticated dining.

There are only really two sites to explore in St Paul 's Bay: St Paul 's Shipwreck Church and Wignacourt Tower . St Paul's Shipwreck Church, also known as Church of St Paul's Bonfire was originally constructed 14 th century and stands on the waterfront marking the spot where he scrambled ashore. Grandmaster Wignacourt unsuccessfully attempted to improve its appearance in the 17 th century by making a few alterations that left it neither attractive nor grand. The whole thing was flattened during WWII anyway and what you see today is merely a basic reconstruction.

A short walk around the bay is Wignacourt Tower , erected in 1609. It stands guard over the entrance to the bay, and is one of the largest towers built to defend Malta 's coastline. Not much to look at, the Tower contains two floors and a tiny museum on local history. The view from the top is the Tower's main attraction, with good views of the bay.

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Population: 398.500
Languages: Maltese and English (both official)
Currency: Maltese lira
Currency code: MTL
Local Times:
Malta - Valletta

Country Dialling Code: +356
Voltage: 240V 50Hz
Electrical plugs:
3 large flat prongs

The five Maltese islands-Malta, Gozo, Comino, Comminotto, and Filflawith-have a combined land area of just 122 sq miles featuring narrow cobblestone streets, crowded with Norman cathedrals and baroque palaces. The countryside is littered with the oldest known human structures in the world. Malta is very good at selling its romantic past of Copper Age temple builders and crusading celibate knights, and it has used this image to crank up a formidable tourism industry. Not that the islands are overrun with highrise resorts - yet.

It has been said that the Maltese islands are the 'open air museum of the Mediterranean', offering 7,000 years or more of history to explore with numerous cultural, historical and megalithic sites unique in the world. The islands boast prehistoric ruins older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids of Egypt, and are steeped in the legacy of the medieval order of the Knights of St John, who used the island as their stronghold for defending Christendom.

The main island of Malta, covering just 95 square miles (246 sq km), is also a popular holiday destination because of its secluded bays and sandy beaches, washed by unpolluted clear blue waters. Set against the backdrop of the island's scenery and its honey-coloured stone buildings, Malta is alluring and fascinating.

Malta and its little sister island, Gozo, are not stuck in a time warp, however. The islanders enjoy life to the full, and the calendar is filled with summertime 'festas' with fireworks and revelry in every little parish in honour of the village patron saints, as well as the major carnival in early spring every year. The capital, Valletta, besides offering some awesome Baroque buildings and fortifications as its main sightseeing attractions, is bustling and bursting with restaurants and cafes. The island's compact size is also a plus for visitors; it takes no more than an hour to drive between any two points on the main island, and there is very little open space. The dense population means that the island is virtually one large urban area, with buildings occupying every inch.

Malta lies about 60 miles (97km) south of Sicily and 160 miles (257km) north of Libya, a strategic position in the Mediterranean that has made the islands a crossroads of history. The last occupiers were the British, who granted Malta independence in 1964, but the biggest and most unique influence was left by the Knights of St John, to whom the island was donated in 1530; the Knights reigned supreme over the island for 270 years, building magnificent churches and monuments to themselves.

Malta has its mysteries too, in the form of 30 prehistoric sites boasting massive Neolithic temples, considered to be the oldest freestanding stone buildings known to man.