Malta - Maltese Catacomb Complexes

"The Paleochristian heritage of the Maltese Islands rates as the fourth most important cluster of such monuments in the Mediterranean Region following those of the Italy, Israel and of the Maghreb. The most prominent feature of Malta's Paleochristian archaeology consists of an extensive concentration of subterranean burial grounds (OI catacombs) located under the modern town of Rabat and the surrounding rural districts. The Maltese catacombs are hewn out of the live rock and the majority were originally located on the outskirts of the ancient Roman town of Melite (today's Rabat) in a period covering the mid-Third to the early Seventh Century AD - Melite being in antiquity the administrative capital of the Maltese islands. These burial grounds developed from a tradition of simple rock-cut tombs of the Phoenician and Hellenistic eras (7th cent BC -1st cent AD). Such older tombs were composed of simple pits cut into the rock, at the bottom of which a chamber would be scooped out. In later centuries more complex solutions were attempted, resulting in the catacomb typology used in Malta during the Imperial Roman and Byzantine period...."
Source: UNESCO World Heritage Tentative ListCatacombs of St Paul and St Agatha in Rabat, Malta with agape tables, fresco paintings and funerary furniture. Thanks to Nathalie of France who visited Malta.