Bistra catacombs to be opened for viewing

The Ta' Bistra catacomb, near Mt St Joseph in Mosta, are to open to the public in a few months' time after extensive work to turn an existing farmhouse built on top of the palaeo-Christian burial site is turned into a visitors' centre.

Officials from Mosta Council, Heritage Malta and the Italian Embassy, said the €90,000 project, partly financed by the European Union, is being carried out by Heritage Malta in collaboration with the Mosta local council and the municipality of Ragusa, in Sicily.

The catacomb was first discovered in the late 19th century and consist of 57 tombs in 16 groups along a 90-metre ridge. Although the tombs probably made up part of a much larger catacomb, extensive quarrying could have destroyed part of the site.

It is thought that the quarrying was related to the building of Mosta's Rotunda which started in 1833.