Home -
Directory of Churches in Malta and Gozo -
Malta -
Gozo -
Comino -
Heritage -
Places -
Travel -
Guides -
Contact -
About
🏛️ Government-Owned Cemeteries (Active)
These municipal, multi-faith public burial grounds are state property managed under regional health and civic authorities. They feature a combination of private family vaults and public common graves.
- Santa Marija Addolorata Cemetery (Paola): Consecrated in 1869, this is Malta's largest and primary multi-faith cemetery, featuring renowned Neo-Gothic architecture.
- Ta’ Braxia Cemetery (Pieta): An active municipal cemetery handling burials for the central region.
- Divine Mercy Cemetery / Ċimiterju tal-Ħniena Divina (St. Paul’s Bay): A modern, active public burial space serving the northern district.
- Duramblat Cemetery (Mosta): An active municipal cemetery handling burials for the central region.
- St. Andrew’s Cemetery (Żebbuġ): Active civic municipal cemetery.
- St. Margaret’s Cemetery (Rabat): Active civic cemetery serving the western district.
- Omm il-Ħniena Cemetery (Mellieħa): Modern civic cemetery layout.
- Our Lady of Victories Cemetery (Mellieħa): Historical but active village plot.
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cemetery (Mġarr): Active civic cemetery for the north-western community.
⛪ Church / Parish-Owned Cemeteries (Active)
Owned by the Archdiocese of Malta and administered directly by local parish churches, these graveyards historically developed on the immediate outskirts of the traditional village cores (casals).
| Locality | Cemetery Name / Dedicated Profile |
|---|---|
| Attard | Ħal Attard Parish Cemetery |
| Balzan | Ċimiterju ta' Ħal Balzan (Parish Cemetery serving the local village core) |
| Dingli | Ħal Dingli Parish Cemetery (Serving the high western cliffs community) |
| Għargħur | Gargur Parish Cemetery (Serving the hilltop northern parish) |
| Għaxaq | Għaxaq Parish Cemetery |
| Gudja | Gudja Parish Cemetery |
| Kirkop | Kirkop Cemetery (Encloses the historic 17th-century Baroque Chapel of St. Nicholas) |
| Lija | Ħal Lija Parish Cemetery |
| Luqa | Luqa Parish Cemetery |
| Marsascala | Marsascala Parish Cemetery / St. Catherine's Burial District (Serving the eastern seaside parish enclave) |
| Marsaxlokk | Our Lady of Pompeii Parish Cemetery (Dedicated local plot serving the southern fishing village community) |
| Mġarr | Mġarr Parish Cemetery (Traditional church plot functioning beside northern agricultural lands) |
| Mqabba | Mqabba Parish Cemetery (Located on the Mqabba-Mqandi road axis) |
| Naxxar | Naxxar Parish Cemetery |
| Qormi | Resurrection Cemetery (Ċimiterju tal-Erwieħ) / Active parish burial ground |
| Qrendi | Qrendi Parish Cemetery |
| Safi | Safi Parish Cemetery |
| Siġġiewi | Siġġiewi Parish Cemetery |
| Tarxien | Tarxien Parish Cemetery |
| Żabbar | Żabbar Parish Cemetery |
| Żejtun | San Rokku Parish Cemetery (Notable for older historic layouts adjacent to St. Gregory's Church) |
| Żurrieq | Żurrieq Parish Cemetery / St. Leo's Cemetery (Encloses the ancient medieval Chapel of St. Leo / San Iljun) |
🎖️ International, Military & War Cemeteries (Restricted / Active)
Maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) or foreign heritage legacies, these serve as operational grounds for military service burials, family descendants, or perpetual global commemoration.
- Pietà Military Cemetery (Pietà): Established in 1866; contains extensive World War I Commonwealth graves from when Malta functioned as the "Nurse of the Mediterranean."
- Pembroke Military Cemetery (Pembroke): Serves the historic British garrison legacy and multi-era wartime casualties.
- Imtarfa Military Cemetery (Mtarfa): Located adjacent to the old British military hospital complex, protecting service personnel and dependents.
- Capuccini Naval Cemetery / Kalkara Naval Cemetery (Kalkara): Operational since 1901. Divided into distinct Catholic and Protestant sections, hosting a famous Japanese Naval Monument from WWI.
🦠 Historic Epidemic, Plague & Cholera Cemeteries (No Longer in Active Use)
These protected, highly sensitive historical sites were established as emergency, extra-mural burial zones during severe epidemic outbreaks to enforce strict quarantine and prevent contagions from reaching village centers.
- The Floriana Bastion Plague Cemeteries (Floriana): A network of trench and vault burial zones built directly into the deep defensive ditches of the fortifications during the devastating 1813 plague epidemic.
- Lazzaretto Cemetery (Manoel Island, Gżira): Built outside the structural isolation wings of the historic Lazzaretto hospital to inter patients who succumbed while in active maritime quarantine.
- Żebbuġ Plague Cemetery / Ċimiterju tal-Baqqari (Żebbuġ): Emergency burial ground consecrated outside the core village specifically for the regional victims of the 1813 plague.
- Qormi Plague Cemeteries (Qormi): Includes the historical *Ċimiterju ta' San Sebastjan* perimeter plots, organized rapidly to manage casualties from the 1675–1676 and 1813 crises.
- Safi Cholera Cemetery (Safi): A closed, restricted historic trench area established on the village periphery to isolate burials during the nineteenth-century cholera epidemics.
🍂 Closed Historic, Non-Catholic & Heritage Sites (No Longer in Active Use)
Protected National Monuments closed to everyday contemporary interments. These are heavily preserved as landmarks of historical, religious diversity, and artistic masonry value.
- Msida Bastion Cemetery and Historic Garden (Floriana): A Protestant burial ground active between 1806 and 1856, set on the bastions overlooking Marsamxett Harbour; preserved by Din l-Art Ħelwa.
- Ta’ Braxia Cemetery (Pietà / Floriana Border): Designed by prominent architect Emanuele Luigi Galizia in 1855 as Malta’s grand multi-faith, non-Catholic necropolis; highly valued for its elite 19th-century sculptural monuments.
- The Turkish Military Cemetery (Marsa): Commissioned by Ottoman Sultan Abdulaziz in 1873 and engineered by Galizia. A masterwork of Orientalist architecture, currently closed to new interments.
- Kalkara Jewish Cemetery / Kalkara Slave Cemetery (Kalkara): Consecrated in 1784 by the Livorno (Leghorn) fund for redeeming enslaved Jews. It marks Malta's oldest surviving post-medieval Jewish burial footprint.
- Medieval Jewish Cemetery (1372) at Għariexem (Mtarfa): Granted via royal land decree by King Frederick III of Sicily to the medieval Rabat community. Completely lacks surface markers today but is verified through archeological survey data.
- Ta' Ċieda Tower Burial Environs (San Ġwann): Roman and early medieval context archaeological burial clearings; completely inactive.