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Ninety seconds on Ta' Bistra Catacombs
Heritage Malta publishes the days and times on the opening-hours page linked from its official listing for the site. The catacombs do not open daily, so that page is the one to check before a visit.
Yes. Entry is ticketed, and the official listing gives reduced rates for seniors aged 60 and over, students and children aged 6 to 11. Heritage Malta members enter free.
Buses run to Mosta from Valletta, Sliema and Bugibba, and the catacombs are within walking distance of the town centre. Heritage Malta puts the nearest bus stop five minutes on foot from the entrance.
Standing in this old Mosta quarry, you see where building stone was lifted out and where the Roman dead were laid, in tombs and catacombs cut into the same rock.
Ta' Bistra is, so far, the largest set of Roman tombs and catacombs found beyond the ancient city of the island. That city, Melite, lies under the modern towns of Mdina and Rabat, so this burial ground stands well outside it.
The quarry was worked in three phases, and one came before any burials. So the tombs sit in rock first opened up for building stone.
Look for straight tool cuts where blocks were lifted out, with burial chambers opened beside them. The cuts and the chambers survive side by side across the whole site.
The complex sits halfway between Melite and Salina, once an important harbour on the coast of Malta.
The entrance is on Triq il-Missjunarji Maltin in Mosta, and entry is by ticket. An audio guide is available at the site, in Maltese and English, so you can follow the commentary in either language.
With the audio guide you set your own pace through the cut rock faces and the burial chambers opened in them, stopping at each tomb for as long as you like.
A nappy changing facility is on site if you are visiting with a baby or a small child.
Pair it with the Rotunda of Mosta, a ten-minute drive or a short bus ride away. The catacombs, the church and a coffee in the square make an easy half day in the middle of the island.
If your dates miss an opening here, St Paul's Catacombs opens daily.
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