Kirkop

History and population

Punic remains of catacombs are found around the village of Kirkop with some of them remain unexplored, and their exploration has been shelved.

In 1969 Anthropologist Jeremy Boissevain published a research on the social fabric of the village in his book Hal Farrug: a village in Malta. Boissevain claims that the people of Ħal Kirkop have lived in the area for centuries because of his assumed comparable bloodline with ancient Phoenician. The Phoenicians occupied the Maltese islands around 700 B.C..

Kirkop has been a village since at least the 11th century.

The name of the village is derived from a family name, or nickname, which owned land in the area. The original name of the village was Casal Prokopju, and is retrieved from the registers of the Maltese militia that existed prior to the rule of the Order of St. John. Through generations, the local population corrupted the original name and was changed to Kirkop.

Kirkop was part of a larger community, as part of the parish of Bir Miftuħ, in the Middle Ages until the Early Modern period. However on May 29, 1592, it was declared a parish on its own right.

The village had a population of 2,260 people in March 2011. By March 2014 this decreased slightly to 2,191 people.

Places, buildings and structures

In Kirkop, one finds the Menhir monolith, which has become the symbol of the village, and a number of Paleo-Christian Catacombs.

Other notorious buildings and structures are listed monuments which include; the Church of the Annunciation, the Parish Church of St. Leonard, the Chapel St. Nicholas at the cemetery, a cross column (Is-Salib tad-Dejma), and a number of niches scattered around the village.

There are two band clubs, the St. Leonard Band Club and the St. Joseph Band Club, which are used as recreational places by some villagers and visitors.

Kirkop is home of an STMicroelectronics plant, whose production accounts for 60% of national exports.

Kirkop main roads

Band clubs

Zones in Ħal Kirkop

Twin village