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| Three villages ofMalta |
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TheThree Villages (Maltese:It-Tliet Irħula) refers to theMaltese villages ofAttard,Balzan, andLija located around the centre of the island.[1] The Three Villages are known as such because of their close proximity to one another. In some cases, one side of a street is part of one village while the opposite side of the same street is part of another village.
The three villages are also very similar in layout and age.[2][3][4]
During theOrder of St. John, the three villages were sought after for country residences and hunting lodges, of which many built there large palaces as a symbol of nobility and to some extent even superiority over the rest ofMaltese society.[5]
From 1993 to 2014, the population of Attard and Lija increased by 70%, whilst Balzan's population decreased by 20% and grew in age.[6]
