Birgu

Birgu Il-Birgu Città Vittoriosa
City and Local council
From top: skyline, Fort Saint Angelo, Auberge d'Angleterre, Advanced Gate, Malta Maritime Museum, Church of St. Lawrence
Flag Coat of arms
Birgu Show map of Malta Birgu Show map of Mediterranean
Coordinates: 35°53′17″N 14°31′21″E / 35.88806°N 14.52250°E / 35.88806; 14.52250
Country	Malta
Region	South Eastern Region
District	Southern Harbour District
Borders	Cospicua, Kalkara, Żabbar
Government
• Mayor	John Boxall (PL)
Area
• Total	0.5 km2 (0.2 sq mi)
Population  (Jan. 2019)
• Total	2,489
• Density	5,000/km2 (13,000/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Ġirbi (m), Ġirbija (f), Ġirbin (pl)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	BRG
Dialing code	356
ISO 3166 code	MT-03
Patron saint	St. Lawrence
Day of festa	10 August
Website	Official website

Birgu (Maltese: Il-Birgu [ɪlˈbɪrɡʊ], Italian: Vittoriosa), also known by its title Città Vittoriosa ('Victorious City'), 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 in 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 stood at 2,629 in March 2014. The local population speaks the Cottonera dialect, which is, however, most limited in Birgu.^[1]