Today 223 years ago, Grand Master Hompesch bestowed the name of Citta Beland on the town of Zejtun. Today, local councillor Sean Chircop marked the occasion with an informative post about that day.
During one of his visits to the locality, the townspeople asked for their town to be elevated to city status considering the fact that it was home to over 6,000 people, was one of the oldest in Malta and was a place where a lot of business was conducted.
The Grand Master heard their plea and on 30th December 1797, he officially named the locality, Citta Beland. Chircop noted that usually, a concert is put on to commemorate the day but due to the current pandemic such celebrations will have to wait a while.