6 Best Sights in Mdina and Rabat, Malta

Catacombs run under much of Rabat. Up Saint Agatha Street from Parish Square, the Catacombs of St. Paul are clean of bones but full of carved-out burial troughs and feature the most comprehensive information on the rituals of the city's underground world, including why each tomb is a different shape. St. Agatha's Crypt and Catacombs, farther up the street, were beautifully frescoed between 1200 and 1480, then defaced by Turks in 1551. Back on the square lies arguably the most impressive surviving tunnel area, the Wignacourt Complex, which includes St. Paul's Grotto—believed to be the site where the apostle St. Paul lived during his time in Malta. This labyrinthine network of burial chambers here dates from Punic times and holds one surprise: just below it is a series of World War II bomb shelters (some 50 rooms) carved by hand from an existing water cistern dug centuries earlier by the Knights of the Order of St. John. The Wignacourt museum upstairs houses reliquaries, relics, and paintings by Mattia Preti.

Mdina's St. Paul's Cathedral is famed for Mattia Preti's intricate 17th-century apse mural The Shipwreck of St. Paul. It along with the 900-year-old Irish bogwood sacristy doors were among the few surviving relics of the 1693 earthquake, which destroyed the Norman-era church that stood previously on this site. Rebuilt in the baroque style in 1703, its interior is second only in Malta to Valletta's Co-Cathedral in terms of grandeur, its floor similarly lined with the marble tombstones of Maltese nobles. Across the square lies the Cathedral Museum, set inside a former seminary. It is home to an excellent art collection, the highlight of which are a series of Dürer woodcuts and illuminated manuscripts.

What began life as a medieval watchtower grew into a grand palazzo by the mid-16th century, and developed a few Baroque flourishes as the centuries went by. These days a personal guided tour by the owners reveals how the Maltese nobles used to live, in what is still a family home, lovingly restored by owners Josette and Georges Magri.

The Romans arrived in Malta on their way to Carthage and swept across the island in 218 BC, finding little resistance from the Carthaginians. This house, built for a Roman aristocrat, dates from the late 1st century BC and is one of the only substantial finds from an era when Mdina was known as Melite. It was discovered by accident in 1881 by workers, though a good portion of its grounds was lost to over-zealous road-building by the British services. What survives are some spectacular mosaics and the only set of marble statues portraying Emperor Claudius and his family.

Mdina's medieval Patrician stone mansion dates from between the 13th and 15th centuries and reveals a wealth of original architectural features. The mansion's rooms display more than 45 collections of silver, furniture, jewelry, armor, paintings, and more, including artworks by Anthony Van Dyck, Nicolas Poussin, and Mattia Preti. There is a free audio guide.

This monastery of Benedictine nuns opened its doors to visitors for the first time in more than 500 years in 2023. Established in 1445, it is the oldest female monastery in Malta and has expanded over the years to occupy an entire block in Mdina. At its peak, it held just 50 cloistered women; now just the Mother Abbess lives here. Visitors are granted access to just a fraction of the complex; print-out guides direct you around the refectory, kitchen, and dormitories of a pair of novice houses that include an exquisitely frescoed chapel. There's little in the way of other information, but it's a fascinating glimpse into the domestic day-to-day lives of these women.