St Paul's Catacombs

Archaeological Site

Archaeological Site · Rabat, Malta 35.8807°N 14.3976°E

Why you should go

Ninety seconds on St Paul's Catacombs

Time needed

1 to 2 hoursShort films included

Cost

TicketedInfants free; reductions

Access

Ramp or 14 stepsEast zone; partial access

Guide

Not neededSelf-guided, with commentary by QR code

St Agatha's

Is St Paul's Catacombs the same as St Agatha's Catacombs?

No. St Agatha's Catacombs is a separate site, known for fragile medieval frescoes and painted rock shrines. Visitors report that it is seen only on a short guided tour, while St Paul's is self-guided.

Audio guide

Is there an audio guide at St Paul's Catacombs?

Yes. Heritage Malta offers an audio guide for adults and a separate one for children, in Maltese, English and Spanish, played on a smartphone at points around the site.

Opening hours

What are the opening hours of St Paul's Catacombs?

Hours change with the season, and Heritage Malta publishes the current times on its opening-hours page. Last admission at all Heritage Malta sites is 30 minutes before closing time.

Claustrophobia

Is St Paul's Catacombs suitable for claustrophobic visitors?

Partly. Visitors report that the main complex has some fairly wide corridors, but that the smaller chambers are reached down tight staircases into cramped rooms with very low ceilings.

From Valletta

How to get to St Paul's Catacombs from Valletta?

By bus to Rabat. One guide recommends route C2 as the fastest and easiest way from Valletta, and once in Rabat the entrance stands on the street called Triq Ħal Bajjada.

Blue badge parking

Is there blue badge parking at St Paul's Catacombs?

Yes, where the site permits. Heritage Malta provides designated blue badge parking bays, which are available on a first-come basis. Visitors arriving by bus have the closest stop about 5 minutes away on foot.

Buy tickets from the official site →

Beneath Rabat, you walk into the earliest and largest evidence of Christianity in Malta, a maze of burial passages with tables carved from the stone for funeral meals.

What makes it special

A cluster of interconnected underground Roman cemeteries lies under this corner of Rabat. Heritage Malta counts more than 30 hypogea, or underground tombs, across the area, and the main complex alone is a system of linked passages and tombs covering over 2,000 square metres.

Inside, you walk empty limestone corridors lined with tomb niches and family vaults. Most passages are bare stone; the exception is one open space re-cut around the 13th century as a Christian shrine and decorated with murals.

Look for the agape tables, used for ritual funerary meals. Only in Malta were these tables cut straight out of the living rock.

The tombs you pass held burials from Punic through Roman and Byzantine times, into the 7th century AD and possibly beyond.

Visiting

The entrance is on Triq Ħal Bajjada, and the visit starts in the audio-visual hall, where three short films introduce the site.

The site is split into two zones, East and West. From the hall you go into the East zone first, up a short flight of steps or by a ramp set nearby. Some areas cannot be fully reached by visitors with mobility impairment.

Lockers, indoor and outdoor seating, a nappy changing facility and a gift shop are on site.

Tips

Pair the visit with Mdina and the Domus Romana, just down the street, in a single day: ancient Melite covered both Mdina and Rabat.

Visitors advise sturdy, flat shoes, and water if you explore Rabat and Mdina on foot before or after. Bring a light layer too, since the passages stay cool and quiet below the sunny streets.

The St Paul name comes from a myth that this cluster was once connected with St Paul's Grotto.

Know before you goAs of November 2026, Heritage Malta closes all its museums and sites, this one included, on 1 January, Good Friday, and 24, 25 and 31 December.