Ta' Bistra Catacombs, the great burial ground on the Burmarrad road

Mention catacombs in Malta and everyone thinks of Rabat. Yet on the road down from Mosta to Burmarrad there’s another complex that Heritage Malta calls the largest set of tombs and catacombs outside the island’s ancient city. These are Ta’ Bistra Catacombs, and what I like most about them isn’t the scale but how well they’ve been set up for anyone to visit.

Halfway between Melite and Salina

The location explains the size. Ta’ Bistra sits halfway between ancient Melite, the Roman city that is now Mdina and Rabat, and the harbour of Salina, which mattered back then. The Romans didn’t bury their dead inside the city, so cemeteries grew along the roads leading out of it. St Paul’s Catacombs in Rabat lie right outside the old city; Ta’ Bistra is much further out, in open country.

They were recorded in the late 19th century, but nobody studied them properly until 1933, when Captain Charles Zammit investigated them. Soon afterwards, part of the site disappeared under the new road to Burmarrad. Studies in 2004, 2013 and 2014 brought new finds and a fresh reading of the complex.

What can you see today?

Three EU-funded projects reshaped the site. The first turned the farmhouse above one section into a small visitor centre. The second completed section A of the catacombs and the facilities. The third, which also took in the Għajn Tuffieħa baths, studied and conserved the complex and put a protective shelter over most of it.

The result is a site with several periods layered together, a play area for children, a big car park and an audio guide in Maltese and English. Heritage Malta reckons on an hour and a half and lists it as fully accessible, which is rare for a cemetery cut into rock. For a wheelchair user who wants to see a real catacomb, this is my choice.

In 2019 Heritage Malta ran Niftakar Ta’ Bistra, gathering memories from people who knew the catacombs and the landscape around them, to fold that memory into how the site is interpreted. I think it’s a fine example of how heritage ought to be handled.

If you are short on time, see the best tours in Ta' Bistra Catacombs and pick one that fits your day.

The calendar rules

The one drawback is a big one. Visits happen on one Sunday a month only, the last, between ten and four, and that’s it. If your trip doesn’t line up, there’s no way in. On a short break I’d prioritise the Rabat catacombs, which open daily, and keep Ta’ Bistra for anyone who happens to be around on that Sunday or has a particular interest. I compare the islands’ other catacombs in catacombs in Malta.

It’s €5 for an adult, €3.50 for a senior or student and €2.50 for a child aged 6 to 11. It’s in Mosta, the same town as the Mosta Rotunda, with a bus stop about five minutes’ walk away, so on the same Sunday you can see the dome and then head down to the catacombs.

Where the bus does not go, a car does: compare car hire in Valletta before you arrive rather than at the desk.

If you still need a way in, check the best ticket deals to Malta from where you are.