Gudja can claim to be the `mother parish' of nearly all the surrounding southern villages and hamlets. The chapel of St Mary Ta' Birmiftuh now stands alone in the countryside near the airport, but it was the seat of one of 12 medieval parishes on the Islands. Restored in recent years, Birmiftuh is an important historical and architectural site of the pre-baroque period. It contains a series of frescoes. Nothing remains of the earlier surrounding village except for the base of a stone militia cross. `Modern' Gudja is typical of southern Maltese villages but perhaps unusual in that it has three baroque churches; one is a fine example of the work of Maltese architect Tumas Dingli (1591-1666). This parish church dominates the tiny village of barely 3000 inhabitants. On the outskirts of Gudja, is a lovely country house known as Casa d' Auriel or Casa Bettina, with an ornate folly in its gardens.