Ħal Qormi (Qormi)
Qormi (Ħal Qormi ; pronounced Ħar Qurmi in the Qormi dialect), also known by its title Città Pinto, is a city in the Southern Region of Malta, southwest of Valletta in the centre of the island. It has a population of 16,324 (as of March 2018), making it Malta's fifth-largest city.
Its bordering towns are Marsa, Luqa, Żebbuġ, Siġġiewi, Ħamrun, Birkirkara, Attard, Santa Venera and Balzan.
Qormi has two parishes, one dedicated to Saint George and one to Saint Sebastian. It contains two valleys: Wied il-Kbir (The Large Valley) and Wied is-Sewda (Black Valley).
Elder inhabitants of Qormi speak a broad Qormi Dialect, which is now in decline.
The name Qormi is most likely derived from the surname Curmi, which is documented in Sicily as of 1095. Several other places in Malta derive their names from surnames, including Balzan, Attard and Ghaxaq. When Qormi is mentioned for the first time in the year 1419, only two of twenty people with the surname Curmi lived in the village.
Alternative folk etymologies have been put forward since the 17th century. Domenico Magri connects the toponym to the word curmi as drink. G.F. Abela refers to carm or carme as the Arabic term for vine as origin of the village name. Agius de Soldanis proposed the Greek crumi, collection of water. Finally C. Scicluna likens it to the Greek hormos, harbour, as the Great Harbour used to go inland as far as Qormi. In both latter cases, there is no documentary evidence for any Greek origin of the toponym.
Its bordering towns are Marsa, Luqa, Żebbuġ, Siġġiewi, Ħamrun, Birkirkara, Attard, Santa Venera and Balzan.
Qormi has two parishes, one dedicated to Saint George and one to Saint Sebastian. It contains two valleys: Wied il-Kbir (The Large Valley) and Wied is-Sewda (Black Valley).
Elder inhabitants of Qormi speak a broad Qormi Dialect, which is now in decline.
The name Qormi is most likely derived from the surname Curmi, which is documented in Sicily as of 1095. Several other places in Malta derive their names from surnames, including Balzan, Attard and Ghaxaq. When Qormi is mentioned for the first time in the year 1419, only two of twenty people with the surname Curmi lived in the village.
Alternative folk etymologies have been put forward since the 17th century. Domenico Magri connects the toponym to the word curmi as drink. G.F. Abela refers to carm or carme as the Arabic term for vine as origin of the village name. Agius de Soldanis proposed the Greek crumi, collection of water. Finally C. Scicluna likens it to the Greek hormos, harbour, as the Great Harbour used to go inland as far as Qormi. In both latter cases, there is no documentary evidence for any Greek origin of the toponym.
Map - Ħal Qormi (Qormi)
Map
Country - Malta
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| Flag of Malta | |
Malta has been inhabited since approximately 5900 BC. Its location in the centre of the Mediterranean has historically given it great strategic importance as a naval base, with a succession of powers having contested and ruled the islands, including the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Knights of St. John, French, and British, amongst others.
Currency / Language
| ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUR | Euro | € | 2 |
| ISO | Language |
|---|---|
| EN | English language |
| MT | Maltese language |
