Guided tours at Abbatija tad-Dejr
This Sunday, the public has the opportunity to visit the Abbatija Tad-Dejr catacombs in Rabat, at a special reduced price. This site is not usually open to the public.
The Abbatija tad-Dejr is an early Christian site consisting of four hypogea (chambers) tunnelled next to each other in the rock face. In 1647, historian Giovanni Francesco Abela published a diagram of the main catacomb and gave a vivid description of the chapel, hermitage and tombs which he noticed at this site. This documentation proved providential later on after this site went through several modifications, disturbances, abandonment, damage and vandalism. The one-hour guided tours will provide insight about the catacombs’ origins, the different tombs found therein, the area’s changing functions, the cult-images painted on the walls, the decorative architectural motifs such as the palm fronds, the scallop shells, the fish-scale carvings and other religious symbols, and the intriguing underground chapel which was embellished with outstanding frescoes and remained in use at least until the 16th century.
The one-hour guided tours will be held on Sunday at 9am and 11am in Maltese, and at 10am and noon in English.