Marsaskala, also written as Marsascala and abbreviated as M'Skala, is a seaside town in the South Eastern Region of Malta which has grown around the small harbour at the head of Marsaskala Bay, a long, narrow inlet also known as Marsaskala Creek. The bay is sheltered to the north by Ras iż-Żonqor, the southeast corner of Malta, and to the south by the headland of Ras il-Gżira. The parish church, built in 1953, is dedicated to Saint Anne and the feast is celebrated at the end of July in Marsaskala.

According to apocrypha, as well as Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come only from New Testament apocrypha, of which the Gospel of James seems to be the earliest that mentions them. The mother of Mary is mentioned but not named in the Quran.