Birkirkara has grown to become an urban hotspot of sorts, with thousands upon thousands of motorists driving through it on a daily basis as they go about their day’s demands.

Housing anything from offices and restaurants to schools and churches, it’s hard to think of Birkirkara as anything but a bustling town.

Having said that, a decades-old image shared to social media by a certain Carmelo Gauci shows off a side of Birkirkara that very few of us remember…

The photo in question, shot in 1954, shows a pitkalija (farmers’ market) set up on Triq Fleur-De-Lys and the adjacent Triq Salvu Psaila.

Men dressed up in shirts, trousers, and berets can be seen inspecting wicker baskets flooding with an array of vegetables, as children converse in the background.

A commenter specified how the market “on the left corner belonged to Sajdon”.

Of course, these roads are barely recognisable nowadays, with queues of cars replacing the baskets of vegetables. Having said that, the structure at the centre of the image – set apart by an intricate stone niche – remains standing to this day.

Google Maps

Many viewers took to the post’s comments section to share their memories of this farmers’ market.

“I would go there with my grandparents, who had a shop in Mosta. They would pick me up in Birkirkara and then I’d spend an entire week with them. Those were the days,” wrote one commenter.

“God knows how many times I walked through the farmers’ market after finishing catechism classes,” added another.

Do you remember Birkirkara’s ‘pitkalija’?

Carmelo Gauci via Residenti f'Birkirkara / Facebook