Gharghur
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Għargħur Ħal Għargħur Gargur, Gregorio |
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| Local council | |||
| Casal Gregorio | |||
Għargħur parish church
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| Motto(s): Excelsior (The Highest) |
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| Coordinates: 35°55′26.65″N 14°27′12.14″E / 35.9240694°N 14.4533722°ECoordinates: 35°55′26.65″N 14°27′12.14″E / 35.9240694°N 14.4533722°E | |||
| Country |
 Malta
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| Region | Northern Region | ||
| District | Northern District | ||
| Borders | Iklin, Naxxar, San Ġwann, Swieqi | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Ġiljan Aquilina (PN) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 2 km2 (0.8 sq mi) | ||
| Population (March 2014) | |||
| • Total | 2,768 | ||
| • Density | 1,400/km2 (3,600/sq mi) | ||
| Demonym(s) | Għargħuri (m), Għargħurija (f), Għargħurin (pl) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | GHR | ||
| Dialing code | 356 | ||
| ISO 3166 code | MT-15 | ||
| Patron saint | St. Bartholomew | ||
| Day of festa | 24 August or last Sunday of August | ||
| Website | Official website | ||
Għargħur (Maltese: Ħal Għargħur) is a village in the Northern Region of Malta. It is situated on a hilltop between two valleys, and it has a population of 2,768 as of March 2014.
Its coat of arms has a red star over a red triangle on a silver shield, with a motto '' meaning 'Highest'. The motto tells that the town is on the highest hill in Malta. In the Maltese dictionary Lexicon, of 1796, Vassalli gives a description of Għargħur in Italian by saying "Bel Villaggio alla parte settentrionale di Malta" (as meaning "A pretty village in the northern part of Malta").
In modern times a controversy has risen over the real name of this village - whether it should be called Gargur or Ħal Għargħur. The original name was Ħal Għargħur (pronounced har arauwr or hal arauwr). 'Ħal' is an old abbreviation of 'Raħal', which means a "village/small town". Most probably, the name Ħal Għargħur derives from the għargħar, the Maltese word for flooding, also Malta's national tree - siġra tal-għargħar - though this usage is less known,. 'Għargħur' is quite unlikely to be derived from 'Gregorio' — in spite of the fact that in the middle of the 15th century, the village was called Casal Gregorio, though in Maltese the name Gregorio is Girgor, not għargħur!. It is interesting to note that in the North-Eastern part of Malta there are other place names which possibly have their name origin to flooding. These are San Ġwann ta' l-Għargħar and Il-Ħotba tal-Għargħar. The "Gargur" pronunciation is possibly related to the influence of past rulers of Malta (French, Spanish, Italian or British) who were confused by the use of the Maltese consonant għ, the equivalent of the Arabic/Semitic aleph/alif. The name Casal Gregorio emerged most likely because for a long time, the romance rulers of Malta and most literate persons were priests, pharmacists, doctors or lawyers who had studied Latin but not Arabic - the basis of Maltese language, therefore were similarly confused when transliterating Għargħur. Similar examples are the names of the town of Żurrieq, which on official documents appeared as Zurico (Zurich) and Naxxar, which on various documents and maps was referred to as Nasciaro. Unrelatedly, in Hebrew, Gargur or Gargiur is the name given to small communities.
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