Paola, Malta
town in Malta
Paola (Maltese: Raħal Ġdid, Italian: Casal Nuovo, both meaning "New Town") is a town in the Port Region of Malta, with 8,706 inhabitants as of 2019. The town is a commercial centre in the Southern Harbour area of Malta, about 5 km (3.1 mi) from the capital Valletta, contiguous to Tarxien and Fgura, with which it forms a single urban area. Paola is named after Grand Master Antoine de Paule, who laid the foundation stone in 1626.
Paola is renowned for the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, the Basilica of Christ the King (the largest church in the Maltese Islands), Antoine de Paule Square and its shopping centres, the Good Friday procession, and its football club, Hibernians FC. The Mariam Al-Batool Mosque, the only mosque in Malta, as well as an Islamic Cultural Centre are found in Paola. The country's correctional facilities (Corradino prison) and the largest burial grounds, the Addolorata Cemetery are also within the limits of Paola.
There are two parish churches, one dedicated to Christ the King and the other to Our Lady of Lourdes. The feast of Christ the King is celebrated on the last Sunday of July and Our Lady of Lourdes is celebrated on the first Sunday after 17 August. The parish also has a Franciscan church dedicated to Saint Anthony, in the Għajn Dwieli zone of the parish. St Ubaldesca Church is the oldest church in Paola and was the first parish church there. In 2008 the church underwent minimal restoration.
“Paola, Malta” enters the record as town in Malta. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Paola, Malta and town can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Paola, Malta” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Paola, Malta and town provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q846589. VIAF identifies the subject as 126165021. Authority coordinates are 35.873, 14.508. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2019, 1626 and 2008.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Paola, Malta”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Paola, Malta primary sources, Paola, Malta archive and Paola research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Paola, Malta”?
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Paola, Malta” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.