Mdina & Rabat

Mdina was once the medieval walled capital of Malta, situated on a hill in the center of the island. In fact, "Mdina" is the Arabic word for "walled city."  Mdina is also commonly called the "Silent City" due to it's low population of just over 300 people and the prohibition of cars within the city walls.

Mdina has been inhabited since around 700 BC.  First by the Phoenicians, then by the Normans after their conquest of Malta in 1091 AD.  By 1530 AD, it had passed on to the Knights of St. John.

The entrance to Mdina.

A view of Malta from the walled city.

Inside Mdina.

Walking down the crooked streets of the "Silent City."

The trench dividing Mdina from its suburb of Rabat.

Mdina church.

Rabat is the Arabic word for "suburb" and is the home of the famous Catacombs of St. Paul and St. Agatha.  It was getting dark and cold; no time to see both.  In addition to being used for burial in ancient Roman times, the catacombs were also where early Christians secretly met and performed Mass until Constantine I made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.

According to tradition, it was here that in 60 AD, the Apostle St. Paul is said to have lived after being shipwrecked on the Islands.  It is also said that St. Paul resided inside the grotto known as Fuori le Mura (outside the city walls) now known as St. Paul's Grotto in Rabat.We tried to find the entrance to this grotto near St. Paul's Church, but I guess it had already closed for the day.

We chose, instead, to go to the St. Agatha Catacombs because they had some unique frescoes on the wall anyway.  They extend 4100 square meters and date to the 2nd & 3rd century AD. There are over 500 graves of several types, the majority are of children.  There are sections for pagans and Jews as well as Christians.  We only saw about 1/10 of the entire complex!

No pictures allowed unfortunately, so here is just one of her crypt I found on the internet.

By now it was dark and cold, we headed off to the bus and back to our rented flat in Sliema for some homemade chili!

Panorama shot of Sliema and the bay.