Attard is one of the so-called Three Villages, along with neighboring Lija and Balzan. Many wealthy families built summer residences here in the early years of the 20th century, and the Three Villages are still considered an exclusive town area. Attard lies almost halfway between Malta's medieval capital Mdina and the Knights' new' capital Valletta. Its position meant the village was always the centre of transport and communication projects between the two. First was the Wignacourt aqueduct, completed in 1615, built to solve the problems of Valletta's drinking water supply. In the late 19th century came the railway, a service which lasted only until the 1930s. Attard today is still characterized by large villas and gardens, the most impressive of which is San Anton Palace built by Grand Master Antoine de Paule in the late 16th century. The village has many architectural gems, but the highlight is the Parish Church of St Mary (1616) designed by Maltese architect Tumas Dingli. It is regarded as the best Renaissance monument on the Islands. Attard continues to be a historic place, and a relatively peaceful one, with flowers in blossom everywhere. Its own profile has been sharpened, its infrastructure improved, and the secular dimension of social life heightened since the introduction of the local government in 1994, but infrastructural needs, including civic ones, have not kept pace with the all to rapid demographic growth and ever-increasing urbanisation. In spite of its growth, the locality has retained a human dimension with open spaces and some leafy streets.