Most of the fishermen who worked out of Marsaxlokk bay hailed from Żejtun , commuting back and forth from the shore . Around 1846 , the first houses began to be built in Marsaxlokk , as fishermen from Żejtun settled there permanently . At the end of the nineteenth century , a church was built to minister to the spiritual needs of the fishermen and their families . Eventually , the fishing village of Marsaxlokk was separated from Żejtun and became a distinct parish in January 1897 . The construction of the parish church started in 1890 . It was built as a fulfillment of a promise made by Marquess Rosalia Apap Viani Testaferrata after she was saved from a violent storm at sea . The church was originally built in a rectangular form with the designs attributed to Dun Ġużepp Diacono . Marsaxlokk became an independent parish in 1897 . The feast of our lady is held on the last Sunday of July . It includes a procession with the statue and a firework display . In the 1930s , Marsaxlokk bay was used as a staging post by four-engined Short C-Class flying boats of Britain 's Imperial Airways as they pioneered long-distance air travel to across the British Empire . During the Second World War , Marsaxlokk Bay was the base for the Fleet Air Arm with a base at Kalafrana . In 1989 , the famous summit meeting between Soviet and US leaders Mikhail Gorbachev and George H.W. Bush was held on-board a ship anchored in the bay . Today , the village is framed by the fuel tanks and chimneys of a power station complex , and the huge cranes of the Malta Freeport Container Terminal . In recent years , Marsaxlokk also developed as a modern seaside resort . The village includes a natural park at Xrobb l-Għaġin
famous summit meeting
Malta Summit
Marsaxlokk