St Paul’s Catacombs — Attraction in Rabat

It's amazing what exists beneath our feet! Pricing signs advertising the site are a bit out of date (now it's 6eu per adult). Biggest gripe is that the experience benefits enormously from an audio guide but it's far from obvious where to find it (small A4 Red sheet on the wall of the first room before the sliding door) but could do with being posted much more frequently around the site. As for the site itself: a decent introduction exhibit before being let loose into the catacombs yourself. The jewel in the crown is the first and largest accessible catacomb which was genuinely impressive. After this we discovered there is about 22 of these catacombs (all appear to be smaller than the first) but access tends to be quite limited and a few (5 or 6) were entirely closed. Once you cross the road into the second half it is much more peaceful and access to many of the smaller 'family sized' tombs are more the flavour of the tombs. I recall reading there is around 2000m of catacombs in total but I think we really get about a fifth of that either for safety reasons or limited space accessing some portions. Anyway it's really worth seeing and you get a good bit of cardio accessing and leaving the latter tombs. Architecturally considerate planning gives a familiar feeling above the ground which contrasts nicely with the nature of the hollows...

St. Paul’s Catacombs (Rabat, Malta) build during the Period of 4th–9th century AD (Late Roman & Byzantine eras) Significance: One of Malta’s largest early Christian burial sites , linked to St. Paul’s stay in Malta (60 AD). What’s Inside the Catacombs? Underground Burial Complex 30+ Hypogea (Tombs) – Spread across 2,000+ sq meters , with agape tables (funeral feast benches) and family tombs . Mixed Pagan & Christian Burials – Shows Malta’s religious transition.

Unique Features "Agape Tables" – Circular dining tables where mourns held memorial meals. Window Tombs (Loculi) – Body niches carved into walls (some for double burials ). Arcosolium Tombs – Arched recesses for wealthier families. Fresco Traces – Faded red ochre decorations (crosses, palm motifs).

St. Paul’s Connection Not actually buried here , but named in honor of his cave refuge nearby ( St. Paul’s Grotto ). Jewish & Pagan Sections Star of David carvings in one area. Pagan symbols (like the Maltese eight pointed cross ). Visiting Tips Entry Fee: ~€5 (Heritage Malta). Hours: 10 AM–6 PM (summer), closes earlier in winter. Dark & Humid – Wear grippy shoes; lighting is minimal. Nearby: Combine with St. Paul’s Grotto & Domvs Romana . Fun Fact: Some tombs were reused as WWII air raid...

This was well worth the trip to Rabat. We took a trip to Mdina first and had a walk around Rabat too before walking over to the catacombs. It’s definitely worth getting a couple of things in whilst around Rabat if you can too, it’s beautiful and the catacombs don’t take an awful long time to enjoy. The first catacomb is by far the most impressive but the rest are definitely worth pottering through too. It was pretty quiet when we visited (around 1pm) which made it easier to enjoy the catacombs. It was also a good excuse to get out of the heat. The visitor center is interesting and the team who work there are great. It had great artefacts and interesting historical narrative to accompany. The same can be said for the catacombs themselves. Wear comfortable flat shoes for the catacombs as the walkways are metal grating and if you can avoid it, don’t take too large a backpack/bag. I took a leather tote style bag and it definitely got in the way, it is deep and quite narrow in parts, but I still made it through comfortably. It can also be quite dark in parts, but this adds to the atmosphere. My only criticism is that the gift shop was quite generic and didn’t have much catacomb specific bits, but hardly worth losing a star over. Definitely...