Paola

Paola is a town in south-eastern Malta, in the Port Region, some 5 kilometres from Valletta, forming a single urban area with Tarxien and Fgura. With some 8,700 inhabitants, it takes its name from Grand Master Antoine de Paule, who laid its foundation stone in 1626. Within its limits lie the Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Basilica of Christ the King, the largest church in the Maltese Islands. In sport, it is home to Hibernians FC, a football club founded in 1922 and several times champion of the Maltese league, which plays at the town's Tony Bezzina Stadium. Paola is European Town of Sport 2026, a title reserved for municipalities of fewer than 25,000 inhabitants that places it within the Maltese representation of the ACES network.