St Paul’s Catacombs: Malta’s Early Christian Burial Complex
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.3
- Popularity
- High
- Country
- Malta
- Primary era
- Classical
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Iron Age, Classical, Medieval
- Civilizations
- Carthaginian, Roman
- Site type
- Burial
- Remains
- Catacomb
On this page12 sections
History
St Paul’s Catacombs is an underground burial complex in Malta, at Hal-Bajjada in present-day Rabat. It formed part of the cemetery outside the walls of ancient Melite, the city whose urban area later became associated with Mdina and Rabat. The cemetery began to be used at least in the third or fourth century BC, probably during the Phoenician-Punic period, and later became Malta’s earliest and largest archaeological evidence for Christianity.
From the Phoenician-Punic period to late antiquity
The wider cemetery included the St Paul’s, St Agatha’s, San Katald, St Augustine, and other catacomb complexes. In the Phoenician-Punic and Roman traditions, burial grounds were commonly placed outside city walls. The earliest graves at St Paul’s consisted of deep rectangular shafts with one or two chambers cut into their sides.
During the Roman occupation, the burial chambers became larger and more regular. Some may have been enlarged until neighboring tombs joined together, helping to create the small connected burial complexes that became common by the fourth century AD. The catacombs continued to serve as burial grounds during the Roman and Byzantine periods, remaining in use until the seventh and possibly the eighth century AD.
Christian associations and later reuse
The catacombs are named for Saint Paul, an early Christian apostle and missionary figure traditionally associated with Malta. The belief that they were directly connected to St Paul’s Grotto is regarded as mythical. Recent research places the catacombs and the grotto within the same extensive cemetery outside Melite, rather than treating the tradition as evidence of a direct connection.
Around the thirteenth century, during the re-Christianization of Malta, part of the complex was reused. An area that had previously been open was recut as a Christian shrine and decorated with murals, creating a later religious space within the older cemetery.
Investigation and heritage recognition
Antonio Annetto Caruana, a Maltese archaeologist and antiquarian who pioneered the study of Malta’s early Christian archaeology, cleared and investigated the site in 1894. Broader excavation began in the late nineteenth century. During the twentieth century, protective rooms were constructed, but no further conservation was undertaken. Heritage Malta now manages the catacombs, and archaeological and environmental research has been carried out through a European Regional Development Fund programme.
St Paul’s Catacombs received the European Heritage Label and became the first site in Malta to receive this recognition.
Remains
The wider cemetery contains more than 30 hypogea, underground chambers or complexes commonly used for burial. The principal St Paul’s cluster covers more than 2,000 square metres and consists of interconnected underground passages and tombs. It is described as the largest catacomb complex discovered on Malta. The site preserves almost all the burial types known from Malta’s catacomb tradition, together with painted decoration, inscriptions, and features connected with commemorative activity.
Principal underground complex
Halls and commemorative tables
The entrance to the principal complex opens into two large halls. Their pillars were shaped to resemble Doric columns and were originally covered with painted plaster, most of which has disappeared or been worn away. Together, the halls contain two circular tables set on low platforms. Each table was cut from a single piece of living rock and imitates the reclining couches arranged around a table in a Roman triclinium, a dining arrangement used for commemorative meals. The tables were probably used during annual observances for the dead.
Canopied tombs and painted decoration
Baldacchino tombs are especially prominent along the main corridors. These free-standing graves are covered by canopies formed by four arches supported on pillars. The complex also contains illustrations and written messages made with red paint, adding visual and textual decoration to the underground burial spaces.
Associated burial spaces
Smaller catacomb and surgical reliefs
A smaller catacomb has three blocking stones in its inner chamber. One of the stones bears relief carvings of surgical tools, suggesting that the burial place may have been associated with a particular family or with a group of surgeons.
Christian and Jewish burials
Twenty-four catacombs contain Christian and Jewish burials placed alongside one another without visible divisions. Their arrangement forms part of the physical evidence for the varied religious communities represented within the cemetery.
Thirteenth-century shrine
The later Christian shrine was cut into an area that had previously been open within the catacombs. Its mural decoration survives as evidence of the site’s medieval reuse as a Christian religious space.
