Мальтаның Балзан ауылы: тарихы мен қазіргі жағдайы

Balzan is a municipality in the Central Region of Malta, one of the so called three villages, together with Attard and Lija. The village originally consisted of a group of small dwellings and farms but eventually grew, becoming a parish in the 17th century. As of 2021, the town registered a population of 4,774 inhabitants.

In Malta, many village names are identical to certain family names, as in Attard and Lija. It is believed by some, therefore, that the village inherited its name from a family whose family name was Balzan. Balsan (Balzan) literally means tax collector or contributions collector. The tax collector must have been from the same parish, at the time forming part of Birkirkara.

The church houses various works of art by famous Maltese painters such as Giuseppe Calleja, Chev. Emvin Cremona and Paul Camilleri Cauchi. The statue used in the village feast celebrated on the 2nd week of July, is carved in wood by Salvatore Dimech (is sartx) and shows our lady and Gabriel the Archangel. The parish also celebrates the feast of St. Valentine. As with Attard and Lija, Balzan is a sought after location and popular with the middle and upper middle classes. The population has increased due to large scale development taking place, largely in the form of apartment blocks replacing villas and their gardens. However, this is mainly occurring on the outskirts of the village, and not the historic centre. The majority of Balzan is an Urban Conservation Area.

A common occurrence in many streets, buildings and historical sites around Malta is the reverence to Saint Roque. The belief is that Saint Roque is the protector saint against the plague and honouring him would protect the inhabitants against the Plague and any other form of contagious disease prevalent at the time. In Balzan there is a church, a street as well as a statue dedicated to Santu Rokku (Saint Roque). The statue is strategically placed at the corner of the street bearing the same name in order to oversee and protect the people living in the village.

Good Shepherd Convent, also known as Tal Bon Pastur, is a convent of the Good Shepherd Sisters who arrived in Malta from Smyrna in 1858. They were initially given a house in Lija by the Marquis Testaferrata to set up a boarding school for girls coming from Malta and Sicily. Today this building serves as the site for the Local Council, Social Services and Post Office within the village. The Franciscan Missionaries of Mary Convent was built in 1926. It housed a convent, a chapel and a school. Stella Maris School Malta adopted the Montessori system of teaching when it opened in 1944. A few years later, in 1950, the school was offering kindergarten classes along with the primary school for boys. Since 2008, Stella Maris School has been a feeder school for St Aloysius College where students move to gain their secondary education. The Neocatechumenal Way also known as 'Tal Mixja' which falls within the Catholic Church. It was formed in Madrid in 1964 by Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernández. It was opened in Balzan in 1984 through the catechists of the Way from the Mosta Paris. Currently has 4 communities and an up and coming "Katekumenju".

Balzan has a Subtropical–Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa), with very mild winters and warm to hot summers.

Balzan Football Club, founded in 1937, is a team competing at the premier level of Maltese football. The team has achieved consistently promising results throughout the last five years, reaching runner up and finalist levels in the last few years. In 2019, they won the Maltese FA Trophy, beating contenders Valletta FC.