Kalkara () is a village in the South Eastern Region of Malta, with a population of 3,014 as of March 2014. The name is derived from the Latin word for lime (Calce), and it is believed that there was a lime kiln present there since Roman times. Kalkara forms part of the inner harbour area and occupies the area around Kalkara Creek. The town has its own Local Council and is bordered by the cities of Birgu and Żabbar, as well as the town of Xgħajra. History The village of Kalkara developed as a small fishing community around the sheltered inlet of Kalkara Creek. Some historians believe that the land that today is known as Kalkara, was one of the first to be inhabited by the initial dwellers of Malta that came from nearby island of Sicily. The idea behind this theory is that the inlets of the Grand Harbour could have provided these primitive emigrants with the needed shelter after having endured their long voyage in the Mediterranean Sea. Nevertheless, such theories cannot be proven and Kalkara's early history will remain largely unknown. The Christian era in Kalkara presumably began with the construction of the Palaeochristian hypogea in the zone known as Xagħra ta' Santa Duminka situated in its parish boundary. In them, the first Christian cults began to be performed and this is today attributed to the depiction of an Orant inside the hypogea. The name given to this village, Kalkara, comes from the Latin word calce literally meaning lime (in Maltese ġir), the reason for this being that in this locality lime-kilns were usually found. Thus, its motto is A Calce Nomen. The emblem is a green scutcheon, divided into two parts: half being blue representing the sea, and the other being gold with a burning flame. When in 1530 the Knights of St John came over to Malta and established their headquarters at nearby Birgu, they initiated a process of development and fortification of the area, which culminated with the construction of the Cottonera Lines; a massive line of fortifications enclosing the cities of Birgu, Bormla and Isla into the area known as Cottonera, and the construction of Fort Ricasoli at the mouth of the Grand Harbour. As the years went by, corsair and Turkish attacks on the Maltese Islands came to a virtual end, and this newly found feeling of safety ensured that Kalkara developed