Paceville

Located west of St. Julian's, Malta, Paceville (Maltese: Paċeville, sometimes abbreviated PV) is the name given to an informal district heavily populated with nightclubs, bars, stripclubs, pubs and restaurants, and is an important nightlife hub on the island. Paceville is located between Spinola Point and Dragonara Point, delimiting Spinola Bay and St. George's Bay respectively. Paceville is seen as a party destination in Europe and is a popular place for locals and tourists alike.

Origins

Early years

Paceville traces its origins in the 1910s and 1920s when prominent lawyer and developer Dr Giuseppe Pace (1890–1971) built a few seaside residence in the area of St. Julian's known as 'il-Qaliet', the small bay between the Dragonara Peninsula and Portomaso. Some of these residencies are still there today, although they are now surrounded by the multi-storey apartments and hotels in the area.

Pace's houses were initially rented out to a number of British servicemen who were stationed in the nearby St. Andrew's and St. George's barracks. In the period between the two World Wars, some of these early Paceville residence started to be rented to the Maltese as well. With the arrival of locals in the area of St. Julian's, Dr Pace decided to finance building of a chapel run by the Augustinian fathers. In Dec. 2000 an adoration chapel. known as the Millennium Chapel was inaugurated and two years later an adjoining complex known as WOW ("Wishing Others Well"). This serves the needs of various voluntary groups that offer free community services to callers from all over Malta; the WOW chapel is all day and night. Prior to the construction of the chapel in Paceville, the Augustinian order in Malta had already built another chapel as well as a convent in St. George's Bay, dedicated to St Rita. These buildings too are still standing and are located just behind Bay Street.