New exhibition at the Library of the University of Malta
Maltese Catacombs: a world below – University of Malta Main Library.
The exhibition brings together and presents to the public a selection of bibliographic materials relating to the Christian catacombs held in the collections of the Library of the University of Malta. These materials are complemented by reproductions of some lesser-known archival documents on the same subject, held in Malta and Rome. The collection is designed to offer a documentary itinerary through the history of the discovery of Malta’s Christian catacombs, seen as a crossroads for scholars and researchers from across the Mediterranean over the centuries.
The exhibition is part of the dissemination activities of the MSCA project ‘UndergroundMed – The Rediscovery of Catacombs between the 16th and 20th Centuries in the Mediterranean Basin’, currently ongoing at the Department of Classics and Archaeology.
The opening ceremony will be held at the Library on Friday, 2 October 2026, at 10.30 am.
The exhibition will be open until Monday, 30 November 2026.
Some of the results of the project have just been published in open access on Histories:
Cecalupo, Chiara. 2026. “Catacomb Rediscoveries in the Central Mediterranean (16th–20th Century): An Overview” Histories 6, no. 1: 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/histories6010022
The article focuses on the rediscovery of catacombs in the central Mediterranean and explores some of this historiographic heritage through different kinds of documents in order to present some interesting results regarding human and cultural connections among Tunisia, Malta and Italy. It presents an overview of the history of the rediscovery of the catacombs without focusing on the details of individual explorers or events but rather by identifying some key points that reveal a trend among scientific research, antiquarianism and confessionalism. These points are crucial elements in defining a broad international and interdisciplinary phenomenon, one that goes way beyond the rediscovery of every single catacomb. This article begins with an archaeological point of view to explain what was a catacomb between the 2nd and the 7th centuries and then offers a brief history of catacomb exploration through the centuries, from the late 16th to the early 20th century. The central part of the text is dedicated to the development of the main pillars that identify the process of catacomb rediscovery: the political frame, cultural circulation and the movement of people.
A general reconstruction of the history of catacombs rediscovery in central Mediterranean have to involve the catacombs of Siracusa, in Sicily.
The most important underground Christian cemetery of the city is the catacomb of San Giovanni. It was built at the beginning of the 6th century and continued to be used throughout the 4th and 5th centuries, until the early decades of the 6th century. The cemetery is built using an ancient aqueduct and its ancient cisterns, acquiring its typical character of perpendicular galleries (with the central decumanus maximus and the various cardines that intersect it) with various rotundae, the cisterns that were later transformed into burial chambers. It also features a large number of arcosolia with multiple burials, important paintings, and a remarkable collection of epigraphs, mainly in Greek.
The catacomb and its surroundings were always known to the citizens. The first to describe it and record its layout was Vincenzo Mirabella (1613), but it then became a focal point for all European travelers visiting Sicily. Many of them described it and published drawings of the layout (including Jean Houel, Dominique Vivant Denon, and others). From the end of the 18th century, it was known and explored by the city’s leading scholars, such as Gaetani della Torre and Giuseppe Maria Capodieci. With the establishment of the city’s Archaeological Museum, its directors took charge of the excavations, starting with Francesco Saverio Cavallari (the discoverer of the Aldelfia sarcophagus in 1872) and then Paolo Orsi, who brought most of the underground structures to light.
S. Giovanni, plan after Mirabella (1613)Adelfia Sarcophagus
The objects found in the catacombs are currently stored and exposed at the local National Museum of Archeology “Paolo Orsi”. It is one of the largest museums in Europe in terms of size and contains the results of research carried out in the Syracuse area from the end of the 18th century onwards, with finds ranging from prehistory to the Roman era.
In 1780, Bishop Alagona inaugurated the Seminary Museum, which became the Civic Museum of the Archbishopric in 1808. After the unification of Italy, it was transformed into the National Archaeological Museum of Syracuse and opened in 1886 in a historic building in Piazza Duomo. From 1895 to 1934, Paolo Orsi directed the museum, expanding its collection with excavation campaigns in the area. Luigi Bernabò Brea, superintendent since 1941, proposed after the war the purchase of the Landolina villa for the creation of a new museum in its vast garden. The design of the sections, which began in 1961, was carried out according to a scientific order by Bernabò Brea himself and Gino Vinicio Gentili, while the design of the building was entrusted to architect Franco Minissi. The architectural structure and educational apparatus made it a truly avant-garde museum, which was inaugurated in 1988. With its various floors and 9,000 m² of floor space, it remains one of the largest archaeological museums in Europe. Over the years, the museum has undergone modifications and expansions.
The entire F section on the first floor is dedicated to early Christian artifacts from the Syracuse area. It begins with an installation of the Adelfia rotunda from the catacombs of San Giovanni, with the sarcophagus of the same name at its center. The section mainly displays the most important Christian epigraphs of the sites and oil lamps found in the catacombs of San Giovanni, Vigna Cassia, Santa Lucia, and Cappuccini in Syracuse. The discovery of the Adelfia sarcophagus was undoubtedly one of the decisive moments in the creation of a museum in Syracuse. The section has undergone two expansions: first in 2014 for the new display of the Adelfia Sarcophagus and other finds related to the catacombs of Syracuse, and now in 2022 for a renovation to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the sarcophagus.
On the other hand, documents relating the catacombs throughout the centuries are stored at the Alagoniana Library and Diocesan Historical Archives of Siracusa. In the library there are abundant references and studies relating to the city’s numerous catacomb complexes, particularly in texts relating to the antiquities of Syracuse, written between the 18th and 19th centuries by various prelates of the city. These texts offer not only detailed textual descriptions of the sites and their state of preservation, but also a wealth of information on their use for scientific and religious purposes, as well as drawings of their layouts. Of particular note among the manuscripts are: Vestigij di Siracusa Antica Illustrata, C. Gaetani della Torre (1718–1805) Raccolta d’iscrizioni antiche Siracusane, C. Gaetani della Torre (1718–1805) Iscrizioni di Siracusa in numero 642, Giuseppe Maria Capodieci (1749-1828) Gli antichi Monumenti di Siracusa in 54 volumi, Giuseppe Maria Capodieci (1749-1828).
S. Giovanni after Capodieci, antichi Monumenti di Siracusa
Basic bibliography Scandurra C., Un nuovo spazio espositivo sulle catacombe siracusane: il Settore F del Museo Archeologico “Paolo Orsi”, in M. Sgarlata, D. Tanasi (edd.), KOIMESIS. Recenti esplorazioni nelle catacombe siracusane e maltesi, Parnassos Press 2016, pp. 151-184. M. Sgarlata, S. Giovanni a Siracusa, Città del Vaticano 2004. M. Sgarlata, L’architettura del sotterraneo a Siracusa nelle memorie di eruditi e viaggiatori del Settecento, in Annali del barocco in Sicilia. Ediz. illustrata. Vol. 8: Siracusa antica e moderna. Il val di Noto nella cultura di viaggio, Roma, 2007, pp. 25-36. M. Sgarlata, La raccolta epigrafica e l’epistolario archeologico di Cesare Gaetani conte della Torre, Palermo 1996.
In the last month I have been able to travel to Tunisia to collect materials regarding the discovery of the Tunisian catacombs. The research included a study period at the National Archives of Tunis and a trip to Sousse.
The National Archives of Tunisia were established in 1955 with Tunisian internal autonomy and restructured in various stages starting in 1967, until they were organised as we know them today between 1988 and the 1990s. They mainly preserve materials relating to the management of affairs concerning the Tunisian population and territory since 1857, and then in particular under the French protectorate and the period of independence. It is structured in various series divided by theme and geographical sub-series (see https://www.archives.nat.tn).
The materials preserved here are mainly administrative, so information can be retrieved on the catacombs of Sousse, especially regarding their management over time. The series of interest are series E (relating to the activities of institutions and administrative services, in particular the Directorate of Antiquities and Arts), series M3 (Directorate of Public Works) and series M6 (Directorate of Public Education).
It was possible to find material on the establishment of the Museum of Sousse, the discovery of the catacombs and their classification as a monument of national interest.
The catacombs of Sousse are underground burial structures dating back to between the 3rd and 6th centuries in the suburbs of the Roman city of Hardumetum. There are five different complexes of varying sizes, consisting of tunnels and burial chambers, in which the main tombs are either niches (closed with funerary inscriptions) or arcosolia or tombs (formae) with floors (mostly covered with decorated mosaics). From an archaeological point of view, the catacombs have yielded canonical material such as epigraphs, mosaics and oil lamps typical of North African production. They are currently closed to the public.
The first discoveries of the catacomb structures in 1888 were accidental, made by French colonel Vincent. Excavations, however, only began in 1903 by Father Augustin Leynaud. Leynaud, together with Carton and with the collaboration of the Societé Archeologique de Sousse, carried out excavations of the cemetery complexes of Sousse for over twenty years, publishing the only archaeological volumes relating to these campaigns, with a wealth of information on the finds and structures.
The Archaeology Museum of Sousse opened in 1897, during the French mandate in Tunisia in 1881, in a building near the commercial port. It was established to host the findings of the massive archaeological campaigns in the city and the surrounding areas. During 1942 and 1943, the city of Sousse was the target of intensive air strikes aimed at the port and its immediate surroundings. The artifacts that survived the war and those discovered successively in the wider region of Sahel were grouped together and exhibited in the fortress of the Kasbah. This new museum opened to visitors in 1951 thanks to the initiative and scientific work of French archaeologists, especially Louis Foucher. It was therefore closed for renovation in 2007 by the National Heritage Institute of Tunisia and reopened in 2012. It is now one of the most important archaeological museums in Tunisia, hosted in its impressive and restored Kasbah, where artifacts (and especially mosaics) are exhibited in a mostly chronological way.
One of the side rooms of the museum is dedicated to Christian artifacts, and almost all of those on display come from the catacombs of Sousse, in particular the Catacomb of the Good Shepherd, the Catacomb of Hermes and the Catacomb of Severus. This is a very partial exhibition of all the finds, but it covers practically all the main types of materials: there are, of course, the main funerary mosaics found at these sites, many oil lamps (with clearly Christian iconography but of unspecified origin), and some funerary inscriptions of great importance. Today, this room is the only exhibition of material originating exclusively from the catacombs in Tunisia.
On December 2, Palazzo Falson hosted the International Council of Museums for Malta Christmas Get-Together, where we discussed “The impact of religious illiteracy on museum communication”
In recent years, we have witnessed a general decline in the religious knowledge of the population, compounded by an increasingly secularised, multicultural and multi-religious society and a strong influx of tourists from countries far from European traditions. This translates into an increasingly heterogeneous and diverse audience visiting our museums and engaging with our historical, artistic and cultural heritage. Museum professionals today must therefore address this complex audience. Starting from the idea that European art is rooted in religion and that it is not possible to separate the history of Europe from Christianity, this presentation will offer some reflections on how we are now faced with the problem of communicating heritage and its religious implications in a new way, in order to meet the needs of the new audiences that populate our museums. How we talk about heritage today will soon no longer be enough to explain the full complexity of our cultural assets, so we need to think together to find new ways.
The “Rediscovering Agatha” was a success! It was organised at St Agatha’s Museum, with the cooperation of the Istituto Italiano di Cultura. During the conference, we offered an overview of the rediscoveries that took place in St Agatha’s catacombs during the last centuries and then the rebranding of the catacombs and museum was presented. After a light refreshment, attenders had the possibility to visit the crypt with a special guided tour.
Next weekend we will celebrate European Researchers’ Night and the project UndergroundMed will be presented in two different events.
On the 26th of September, let’s join together at st Agatha’s Catacombs in Rabat for Rediscovering Agatha!
The catacombs of St Agatha in Rabat have been a topic of interest since the 17th century. The tunnels, crypt, and paintings from different periods have always attracted the attention of scholars, travellers, curious individuals, and devotees.
Rediscovering Agatha, organised as part of the European Researchers’ Night 2025, will retrace the stages of the rediscovery of the catacombs of St Agatha and the role of foreign archaeologists in the investigation process. The research currently underway and the future of the site will also be presented.
On the 27th of September, instead, I will showcase the project at the EU Corner in the big fair Science in the City in Valletta!
Anyone interested in the state of the Christian catacombs in Malta at the beginning of the 17th century should read Marco Antonio Axiaq’s ‘Relazione della nuova e grandissima divotione’ (Report on the new and great devotion). Axiaq was a Maltese surgeon who wrote a long description of the island in 1610, divided into several parts, of which only three handwritten copies of different chronologies remain today, addressed to various notable figures.
Axiaq provides the first descriptive mention of the Maltese catacombs, saying that they were somewhat frequented by locals in the early 17th century, although they remained completely misunderstood. He saw them first-hand and interpreted them above all as historical proof of the “victory” of the Christian religion over paganism.
Axiaq was the first to provide the names of five Christian hypogea on the island (St Paul, Madonna della Virtù, Madonna della Grotta, St Agatha, St Venera), but he also hinted at the presence of many other sites scattered throughout Malta.
Given the importance of the text and the difficulty in finding it, we transcribe below the part on the catacombs as contained in the manuscript version of the National Library of Malta (NLM, Lib. 515).
Relazione della nuova e grandissima divotione introdotta nella Santa Grotta di San Paolo nell’isola di Malta con una breve raccolta delle cose notande et antichità di detta Isola scritta per Marco Antonio Haxach Maltese
NLM 515, ff. 5v-6
Sono in questa Isola oltre l’antiche Reliquie delli grandissimi edifici, grotte sotterranee tagliate con mirabile destrezza, e forma, ed alcune cellule, et altri usci e portine, che d’una grotte s’entrava poi nell’altra con diversi appartamenti e se ne ritrovano alcuni de loro che a questa guisa se scondono da mezzo miglio, e più, considerandole alcune persone curiose stimarono, che anticamente gli abitanti di quest’Isola in quelle habitassero, perché forse li terremoti erano spessi, e grandi, o perché il modo di fabricare case ancor trovato non fosse, non havendo considerato questi tali di quello che nelle grotte si scorge, il che io con dura fatiga molte volte ad alcuni di loro ho disingannato con mostrargli manifestamente esser sepolture, e non ad altro fine fatte, ancorché così belle, e con diversi lavori abbellite fossero poiché si vede, che nella maggior parte di loro nella medesima pietra vi è il cavo, quanto può stare il corpo umano, e d’altri cavi piccoli per li figliuoli, nelle quali per insino al dì di hoggi ossa e teste umane si ritrovano, ed alcune ancora con balate di pietra coperte, e dentro alcuni vasetti, piattini, lucerne d’ogni, fatti di creta, di diverse forme all’uso antico per il che io ho sempre giudicato, che gli habitanti antichi, come Gentili l’opinione di Pitagora avessero avuto della trasmigrazione dell’Anime, cioè che uscendo da un corpo qual’all’ora moriva, inanzi che un altro s’introducesse visitando quelli corpi, nelli quali prima era stata cossì errante andava trovandoli cossì bene acconcie, e di quelle antiche ceremonie, che far si solevano, si compiaceva, tenevano che questa era la sua gloria, se bene poi questa, e tutte le altre vane et erronee opinioni di Gentili, non solo de’ Maltesi ma da tutti i fedeli furono abolite et annichilate mediante il lume della S. Fede Cattolica dal Nostro Redentor Gesù Christo imparata, e dai suoi SS. Apostoli e Ministri della S. Chiesa predicata, colla quale come suoi figli, e seguaci Cattolici ci confirmiamo.
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Ad imitazione di questa S. Grotta già Chiesa consecrata dal Glorioso S. Paolo successivamente li Christiani altre grotte coltivorno, che più comode gli parevano tanto in nome della SS. Madonna, come ce n’è intorno a questa Città Notabile alcune insin al dì d’oggi, com’è la Madonna della Virtù, la Madonna della Grotta incorporata poi dalli Padri di S. Domenico dove già fabricato lor Convento, così anche d’alcuni altri Santi, che di mano in mano dalla S. Romana Chiesa sono stati Canonizati, come S. Agata, S. Vennera e molti altri sparsi per questa Isola.
The project UndergroundMed was presented among the on-going research project at the University of Malta Research Expo 2025 held in Valletta on 28 May 2025.
Abstract and presentation
Notes from Underground: the project UndergroundMed
The MSCA project UndergroundMed traces the history of the rediscovery of ancient catacombs between the 16th and 20th centuries across the Mediterranean, in particular Italy, Malta, and Tunisia. It analyses the topic from a broad European perspective, through studies conducted on travel routes, explorations, archive and museum collections, and it enhances the role of European scholars in creating an international and multicultural research-network while travelling across the shores of the Mediterranean in search for catacombs. I will share some preliminary results of this systematic analysis on catacombs rediscovery, to illustrate how UndergroundMed defines the role played by catacomb archaeology in building a European common culture.
