Let yourself wander through our islands’ astounding history on the 21st of September – Independence Day – as Heritage Malta opens four of its museums and sites which would otherwise be closed on Tuesdays, namely Fort St Angelo, the National Museum of Archaeology, St Paul’s Catacombs and the Palace Armoury.

Starting off in the heart of Rabat, St Paul’s Catacombs will take visitors into Malta’s mysterious ancient and medieval period. The catacombs are located on the outskirts of the old Roman capital Melite (today’s Mdina), as Roman law prohibited burials within the city. Serving as a burial ground from Punic and Roman times, the site represents the earliest and largest archaeological evidence of Christianity in Malta.

Its association to the saint derives from the myth that this cluster of catacombs was once connected with St Paul’s Grotto. Up next is the National Museum of Archaeology housed at the Auberge de Provence in Valletta, one of the most elaborately decorated Baroque buildings in the city. The outstanding collection on display here spans from the 5th to the 1st millennium BC, featuring some of the earliest prehistoric tools and artistic representations. Currently visitors may also get a glimpse of the famed Ħal Saflieni Hypogeum skulls, in the exhibition ‘Alien Headaches?