St. Paul's Catacombs, Rabat Malta

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the St. Paul's Catacombs in Rabat.


These underground roman cemeteries are dated to be used up until the 4th century AD. Since the roman law at the time, prohibited burials within the city, these are found on the outskirt of the capital of Malta at the time; Mdina.

The name of the these catacombs derives from the widely known story which relates to St Paul's Grotto. As such, these catacombs are a great example of Maltese underground architecture as well as it represents the earliest evidence of Christianity in Malta.

The site itself consists of two large areas, with a good number of burial chambers. During a talk with one of the curators, I was told that there were more than 30 underground burial chambers.

Find below some additional images taken by me of the catacombs:

St Paul's Catacombs, Rabat Malta

Should you be interested to visit, the opening hours are 9:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday.
Tickets cost €5.00 for adults, and €3.50 for youths

How to get there
- By Public Transport: From Valletta Routes 51, 52. From Bugibba Route X3 (Airport Route). The catacombs are situated in St. Agatha Street which is a narrow street running through much of the town’s core. Follow the signs to St. Paul’s Catacombs.
- By self-drive car: Drive towards Rabat and park close to the Domus Romana. The St. Paul’s Catacombs are around 5 minutes away by walk.

Medieval Mdina Festival

Every year in Malta, on a weekend in April, the town called Mdina, transforms itself into a Medieval town.

Built on the highest spot on Malta, Mdina has great views over the island. It is a well preserved medieval town with narrow winding streets, lined with tall limestone houses. It takes you back in time... when people's lives were so much different from today...

...And with this in mind, Malta re-lives the past for one weekend every year...

This year, for the first time, I have participated as a re-enactor. I dressed up as a peasant, with the Anakron Living History group. We had our own spot in the Mdina square, and we were cooking Medieval food as well as selling wine.
 

*No make-up was allowed during re-enactment.

 Might I say, that I loved this experience, and I urge you all to attend next year. It is an event for all the family, where battles are conjured again, and medieval music is echoed throughout the city.

During this festival, all museums in Mdina also have special prices.

For more information visit: www.medievalmdina.eu
All photos in this blog entry are mine, except the portrait which was taken by Jimmy Borg.
Should you like to share any of your photography work or videos, kindly leave them in the comments below.

Back in Malta

For those of you who did not know, I am now back in Malta. Whether if it is for good, or for a long while, I do not know yet.

As such, I have decided to try and keep this blog alive. Instead of writing about my adventure in England, I will now write about things in Malta, about Malta, events, my photography and writing; whatever I can think of...

Do feel free to drop by and give me topics or areas you'd like me to explore.

I will leave you with a panorama of the lovely Sliema... Almost on a daily basis I get to walk the promenade on my way to work... Lovely view, isn't it?

Steffi
xxx