St. Paul's Grotto

Visit St. Paul's Grotto in Rabat during your holiday in Malta just as Pope Benedict

The fascinating St. Paul's Grotto is set beneath the beautiful St. Paul's Church in Rabat. According to the Book of Acts it was here that St. Paul and his missionary party took refugee after their ship wrecked on the island of Malta on their way from Crete to Rome. It was also after their arrival to St. Paul's Grotto in Malta that they began preaching about Christianity to the Maltese people.

St. Paul spent 3 months in the grotto in Rabat that is now so famous that Pope Benedict visited St. Paul's Grotto to pray during his visit to Malta in 2010 and so did Pope John Paul II in 1990.

During his stay, The Act of Aposteles tells us how St. Paul healed several people during his stay among whom was St. Publius who was the father of the governor at that time.  St. Paul's Grotto in Rabat became one of the earliest places of Christian worship on the island and St. Paul's gift of healing and him remaining unharmed after a snakebite  made the locals regard him as a God.

If you visit St. Paul's Grotto during your holiday in Malta, take the tome to visit the Church of St. Paul that is build on top of the grotto. St. Paul's Church dates from the 17th century and holds a statue of St. Paul. From the Grotto you can also take a set of stairs leading under the road to the Second World War air raid shelters and  Wignacourt Museum.