Abbatija Tad-Dejr

Abbatija Tad-Dejr is a rock-cut hypogeum in Rabat, Malta. It is a paleochristian burial site whose catacombs are among the most important early Christian burial sites south of Rome. The site is managed by Heritage Malta and is currently closed for conservation.

The earliest catacombs consisted of one shaft and chamber tombs cut into the vertical face of a quarry. Four larger complexes were added between the fourth and the ninth centuries AD. The largest contains rows of carefully placed baldacchino tombs, including at least three with heavily decorated reliefs. It may have been planned before excavation began.

After the Roman period, the largest catacomb was enlarged and made into a small church. A stone altar and carved crosses indicate early Christian use. A fresco formerly decorating the apse above the supposed original altar is now in the National Museum of Fine Arts. The catacombs later served as cow pens and as a source of stone for lime production.

The site’s catalogue dating is 4000 BCE to 2500 BCE, based on a typological estimate, although the burial history described here runs from the fourth to the ninth centuries AD and later. Much of the complex was damaged by quarrying. Some truncated shaft and chamber burials can be seen from the low roof of the quarry.

The early catacombs comprised a singular shaft and chamber tombs dug from the vertical face of a quarry. Between the fourth and the ninth centuries AD, four larger complexes were added.

The most important of the four small catacombs is the largest one; with its rows of carefully placed baldacchino tombs, it is possibly one of the few catacombs that saw some sort of pre-planning during excavations. Baldacchino tombs are often considered to be the richest out of the array of tomb types found in Maltese catacombs; at least three such tombs in this complex are heavily decorated with reliefs.

In the post-Roman period, the largest catacomb was enlarged and turned into a small church.