Our Islands are made up of a few hills, some valleys and a considerable amount of beautiful beaches - and above all Valletta Grand Harbour - the pride of our country. At the far end of Grand Harbour there is Marsa Harbour - made up of two inlets separated by Korradino Hill - better known as Jesuits Hill. These two inlets were referred to as the Smaller Marsa and the Larger Marsa; the smaller Marsa harbour was also referred to as 'Xatt il-Qwabar' - the word Qwbar means tombs - suggesting that the area got its name from the number of Punic tombs found here. The name could also refer to a particular crab called 'il-Qabru', which inhabited Marsa's shores.
Back in the day the Marsa Ports stretched from Pinto Wharf to Ras Ħanżir. The Smaller Marsa ended at the bottom of Jesuits Hill while the Larger Marsa started from there and covered all the area around the Power Station and ended at Ras Ħanżir. There was a time where the sea shore stretched as far as Qormi to a place known as Taċ-Ċaki. This was discovered from the large amount of sand and pebbles found under the soil. The sea water that reached this far met with the water from two large valleys - Wied il-Kbir and Wied is-Sewda. All this natural activity was instrumental in making Marsa a very fertile land. Old maps and documents refer to this area as Wied il-Ġonna - meaning valley of the gardens.
Sheltered by the Korradino Hills and Luqa Hill to the beginning of Wied il-Kbir at Qormi, stretching towards Wied is-Sewda from the North - continues towards Tas-Samra in Ħamrun - Blata l-Bajda and eventually reaches Xatt il-Menqa (Marsa inlet Port). This helps us understand Marsa from a geographical point of view - but one can imagine further and understand how it actually was - a natural harbour complementing the large stretch of fertile land full of trees and fields ahead of it.
Il-Gżejjer tagħna huma watja bi ftit għoljiet u ħafna widien. Madwar tal-kosta nsibu xtajtiet u bajjiet kif ukoll daħliet kbar bħall-Port il-Kbir. Fil-parti ġewwinija ta' dan il-port naturali titfaċċa l-Marsa, b'żewġ daħliet mifruda bl-Għolja tal-Kortin, magħrufa aħjar bħala l-Għolja tal-Ġiżwiti. Dawn id-daħliet kienu magħrufa bħala iż-Żewg Marsiet: il-Marsa ż-żgħira u l-Marsa l-kbira. Il-Marsa ż-żgħira kienet tissesjjaħ ukoll Xatt il-Qwabar (Sciat el Kuabar) għall-ammont ta' oqbra li nstabu fil viċinanzi jew jista' jkun ukoll għall-granċ imsejjaħ Qabru, li kien jgħix bl-abbundanza fl-ilma salmastru fil-Marsa.
Sfortunatament din il-ħlejqa hija rari hafna.
Il-Port tal-Marsa dahri kien mix-xatt ta' Pintu (illum Xatt l-Għassara ta l-Għeneb) sa Ras Ħanżir. Il-Marsa ż-żgħira, fejn illum hemm il-Menqa, kienet tispiċċa sa tarf l-Għolja tal-Ġiżwiti, fejn illum jissejjaħ Xatt il-Pont - mentri il-Marsa l-kbira kienet tkompli minn hemm, iddur lejn xatt il-knisja ta' Ċejlu u tibqa' sejra sa Ras Ħanżir. Kien hemm żmien meta l-baħar kien jibqa' dieħel sa Ħal Qormi għall-post magħruf bħala "Taċ-Ċaki". Hemm kien instab kwantita ta' ramel u ċagħak mirdum taħt il-ħamrija, u b'hekk jindika sa fejn kien jasal l-ilma li kien jitħallat mal-ilmijiet taż-żewġ widien li jiżbukkaw fih. Hawn wieħed jista jinnota l-livel baxx ta l-art mix-xatt sal-widien li jiżbukkaw lejn il Marsa - Wied il-Kbir u Wied is-Sewda it-tnejn iferrghu lejn il-Marsa. Din l-attività naturali għamlet il-wità kollha tal-Marsa fertili. F'mapep antiki ta' Malta dan il-lok kien imssejjaħ Wied il-Ġonna (Latin - Marsa Hortus)
Imkenna mill-Għolja ta' Kordin lil hinn mill-Għolja ta' Ħal Luqa, sal-bidu ta' Wied il-Kbir f'Ħal Qormi minn naħa tal-Lbiċ, jibqa' sejjer lejn Wied is-Sewda minn naħa tat-Tramuntana li jerġa jogħla lejn l-Għolja tas-Samra li jżerżaq lejn il-Ħamrun, sal-Blata l-Bajda lejn Xatt il-Menqa. Din id-deskrizzjoni ġeografika tal-Marsa tagħtina d-dehra tal-forma tal-Marsa, hekk kif kien b'xatt il-baħar imżewqa b'kull raba saqwi, għadajjar fil-witat, u siġar - ambjent naturali sabiħ u attrajenti għall-fawna li għammret fiha