 Port of Valletta as viewed from the ISS, at the centre of the Sciberras Peninsula | |
  Sciberras Peninsula | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Grand Harbour in the south and Marsamxett Harbour in the north. |
| Coordinates | 35°53′43″N 14°30′29″E / 35.89528°N 14.50806°E |
| Administration | |
Malta | |
The Sciberras Peninsula is a peninsula in the South Eastern Region of Malta, between the Grand Harbour in the south and Marsamxett Harbour in the north.[1][2] At its end stands the Mount Sciberras, which gave its name to the peninsula.[1][3][4] During the Arab occupation the peninsula was called Mu'awiya, which has been taken up in Maltese as Xagħriet Mewwija (uncultivated and undulating heaths).[5]
Valletta, the capital of Malta, is located on the Sciberras Peninsula, as is its suburb Floriana.[6]
Some authors maintain that the name comes from the old Maltese family name Sciberras or Xiberras, who would have owned the land.[7] Recent scholarly studies indicate that the phrase Xeberras is a Punic phrase which means the headland, or the middle peninsula, which is exactly the geographic characteristic of the Valletta-Floriana peninsula.[8]
- ^ a b Blondi 1997, p. 78.
- ^ Auzias & Labourdette 2002, p. 128.
- ^ Blasi 2013, p. 38.
- ^ Allison 2013, p. 8.
- ^ Delbeke & Schraven 2012, p. 215.
- ^ Auzias & Labourdette 2002, p. 155.
- ^ Guillaumier 2002, p. 869.
- ^ Vella, John (2022-01-02). "Thalassic imaginaries: witnesses to (an) unwritten history". European Review of History: Revue européenne d'histoire. 29 (1): 1–41. doi:10.1080/13507486.2021.1916444. ISSN 1350-7486. S2CID 239631719.