The Xarolla Windmill at Żurrieq

Zurrieq

Żurrieq is one of the oldest towns in Malta, and has a population of 12,000 inhabitants . Żurrieq is situated in the South West of Malta. The first documentation about it being a parish dates back to 1436 dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria. The island of Filfla is administratively a part of...

, Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

 is one of the windmills constructed by the Knights of Malta

Knights Hospitaller

The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...

 in the villages of Malta.

In 1674 Grand Master

Grand Master (order)

Grand Master is the typical title of the supreme head of various orders of knighthood, including various military orders, religious orders and civil orders such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Orange Order...

 Nicolas Cotoner

Nicolas Cotoner

Fra' Nicolas Cotoner was the 61st Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta, between 1663 and 1680...

 built five windmills around Malta. One of these was the windmill built in Nigret, Zurrieq, known as Tal-Qaret.

In 1724, Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena

António Manoel de Vilhena

Dom Fra' António Manoel de Vilhena was the 66th Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta from 19 June 1722 to his death in 1736....

 built another windmill next to it, known as ta' Marmara, which was the surname of the first person to work in the same windmill, Luret Marmara.

The windmill known as Tas-Salib, was built by the Gafà family, and knows its name to the village cross situated just to the south west of the same windmill.

George Sammut is the curator of the windmill. The late Emmanuel Sammut, George's father, had a major role in the restoration of this windmill. Having himself lived his entire life in a windmill in the heart of Żurrieq, Emmanuel was very knowledgeable about the functioning of the windmill and his advice was indeed an asset during the period of restoration.

Another windmill is that known as Tax-Xarolla, was built by Grand Master Antonio Manoel de Vilhena, in 1724. In 1992, this was restored to its original working order is now the only functioning windmill in the islands of Malta and Gozo. This is a valuable witness of local culture and heritage still has parts of the original mechanisms and can still grain the wheat. In the year 2000, this building was passed over to be administered by the Żurrieq Local Council and is intended to serve also as a cultural centre.