Culture of Zurrieq

On the 15th of March, 1930 a tomb was excavated containing human bones and roman pottery dating to the 7th century B.C.. On the 3rd of September, 1935 in a field known as 'Ta' Farrat', near the Xarolla Windmill, a tomb was found dating to the periods of the Carthaginians and Phoenicians, containing as well Roman pottery remains. On the 13th of June, 1930, a Roman tomb was uncovered in Hal Far in the area known as tal-Baqqari, another on the 4th of July, 1956, and another on the 5th of March, 1956, which were all excavated down in the rock and found containing Roman pottery of the third period.

On the 13th of July, 1938, Dun Gwann Farrugia asked the Museums authority to look into a building found in the gardens of the archpriest of Zurrieq. One will find reference to these remains in the book by J. Houel, Voyage Pittoresque de Sicile, Malte et Lipari. He claims that these remains date back to the Greek period. Unfortunately today only a small tower belonging to a larger building remains, known due to the actual dating of the same tower, as the Punic Tower. This tower is of great interest for the fact that punic remains on the island a scarce. The structure of the tower is made of stone cut in large perfectly square blocks and put together with great precision with the use of round dowels (mincotti) to hold the same blocks in place.

Windmills

Xarolla Windmill.

According to Chev. Guze Galea 'in 1674, Grandmaster Nicolo Cottoner, built five windmills around Malta. One of these was the windmill built in Nigret, Zurrieq, known 'tal-Qaret'. After some time, in 1724, Grandmaster re-built another windmill next to it, known as ta' Marmara, which was the