Very lonely area with few visitors but stark and real. One could imagine the people in the Bronse age living in the caves high above the cliffs fortified against the marauding hordes.
Ħad-Dingli is a locality near the sea and is full of cultivated fields, but at the same time stands imposingly very high above the sea. The cliffs reach a height of around 300 metres – the highest place in Malta. Thus the inhabitants do not earn their living by going fishing, but by assiduously tilling their fields.
Dingli Cliffs, in harder times than at present, were also sometimes beneficial. Corsairs found it difficult to climb the cliffs and so the population had time to find refuge when the pirates were sighted.
In 1530, Emperor Charles V bestowed Malta to the Knights of St John as a feud. The pirates besieged and took over Gozo in 1551, and then directed their attention towards Malta. They noticed that it was difficult to land at Ħad-Dingli, and even gave instructions to other pirates to avoid this area.
The sole pride that distinguished the inhabitants of Ħad-Dingli was their devotion to the parish church dedicated to the Assumption of the Holy Virgin. In 1678, the village was declared a Parish Church with its own Parish Priest.
Ħad-Dingli is now a picturesque village looking towards the future with confidence. There is now a sense of well-being, which could not be envisaged in the not too-distant past. The population has increased in number fifteen-fold since centuries ago. Statistics reveal that a century ago, it was difficult to send children to school. The boys used to work in the fields. The girls, from an early age, helped in domestic work. Nowadays Ħad-Dingli offers excellent examples of social mobility with beautiful houses reflecting a high income status.
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