Comino Cemetery, Comino, Malta

Introduction

Comino Cemetery is one of the most unusual and historically significant burial grounds in the Maltese Islands. Located on the isolated island of Comino between Malta and Gozo, the cemetery is closely connected with Malta’s history of quarantine, infectious disease control, maritime isolation, and wartime internment.

Unlike most cemeteries in Malta, Comino Cemetery was not established primarily for a large local community. Instead, the cemetery became associated with individuals isolated on the island after arriving in Malta with suspected infectious diseases including plague, cholera, and other contagious illnesses.

The cemetery later gained additional historical importance during the First World War when German prisoners held at the isolation hospital on Comino were buried there after their deaths.

Today the cemetery survives as a rare and powerful reminder of Malta’s role as a Mediterranean quarantine centre and maritime health checkpoint during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The cemetery is located at coordinates 36.012014, 14.330939.

Comino and Malta’s Quarantine System

For centuries Malta occupied a strategically important position in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea. Ships travelling between Europe, North Africa, the Ottoman Empire, and the Near East regularly passed through Maltese waters.

This strategic location brought economic and military importance but also exposed Malta to repeated threats from infectious diseases carried by maritime traffic.

Throughout the nineteenth century diseases such as:

• plague,
• cholera,
• typhus,
• yellow fever,
• and other contagious illnesses

posed serious risks to the islands.

To prevent epidemics from spreading into Malta and Gozo, strict quarantine systems were developed under both the Knights of St John and later the British colonial administration.

Because Comino was geographically isolated from the main islands, it became an ideal location for temporary isolation facilities and quarantine detention.

The Isolation Station on Comino

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries passengers arriving in Malta who showed symptoms of infectious diseases or who were considered at risk of carrying contagious illnesses were sometimes isolated on Comino.

The island’s separation from Malta and Gozo allowed authorities to contain potential outbreaks away from the main population centres.

Individuals kept on Comino during quarantine periods included:

• ship passengers,
• crew members,
• travellers from infected ports,
• suspected plague victims,
• cholera patients,
• and persons suffering from contagious diseases.

Isolation facilities and temporary medical supervision were maintained on the island during these periods.

The cemetery developed as part of this quarantine system because some isolated patients unfortunately died before being permitted to continue to Malta or return to their ships.

Plague and Cholera Burials

Comino Cemetery became the burial place for individuals who died while being held in quarantine on the island.

Victims of plague, cholera, and other infectious diseases were buried there in order to reduce the danger of spreading infection to the populated islands of Malta and Gozo.

These burials formed part of Malta’s wider public health system which relied heavily on maritime quarantine measures throughout the nineteenth century.

The cemetery therefore represents an important chapter in the history of Mediterranean medicine and epidemic control.

Unlike parish cemeteries connected with villages and churches, Comino Cemetery served a specialised medical and quarantine function linked directly with maritime disease prevention.

The Isolation Hospital

Historical accounts indicate that an isolation hospital operated on Comino for quarantine and infectious disease management.

The island’s remote environment made it suitable for separating infected or suspected individuals from Malta’s urban population.

The use of isolated islands for quarantine was common throughout the Mediterranean world during the nineteenth century. Similar quarantine stations existed on islands near major ports in Italy, Greece, and France.

Comino therefore formed part of a wider international network of maritime health control systems intended to prevent epidemics from spreading through shipping routes.

German Prisoners During the First World War

During the First World War Comino gained an additional role connected with wartime detention and internment.

German prisoners held at the isolation hospital on Comino died during their internment and were buried within Comino Cemetery.

These wartime burials added another important historical layer to the cemetery, linking the isolated burial ground with Malta’s wartime history and the global events of the First World War.

Malta served as an important British military and naval base during the war, and prisoners connected with enemy states were sometimes detained under strict security and medical supervision.

The German graves remained at Comino Cemetery until the late 1960s.

Exhumation and Repatriation of the German Graves

In the late 1960s the German wartime burials at Comino Cemetery were exhumed and repatriated to Germany.

This repatriation formed part of broader post-war international efforts to relocate and consolidate wartime graves in accordance with national military commemoration policies.

The removal of the German burials significantly altered the cemetery but their historical presence remains an important part of Comino’s story.

The wartime graves demonstrated how the isolated island served multiple roles throughout history including:

• quarantine station,
• medical isolation centre,
• wartime detention site,
• and burial ground.

The Island of Comino

Comino, known in Maltese as Kemmuna, is the smallest inhabited island in the Maltese archipelago.

Historically the island supported only a tiny population because of its harsh environment, limited freshwater supplies, and geographic isolation.

Despite this, Comino possessed:

• small farming communities,
• religious structures,
• watchtowers,
• military defences,
• and quarantine facilities.

The cemetery forms part of this wider historic landscape which includes Santa Marija Chapel and Saint Mary’s Tower.

Santa Marija Chapel

The cemetery lies within the wider religious landscape associated with the Chapel of the Return of the Holy Family from Egypt, commonly called Santa Marija Chapel.

The chapel historically served the spiritual needs of Comino’s isolated residents and visitors.

Although the cemetery later became strongly associated with quarantine burials, its location near the chapel reflected traditional Catholic burial practices in the Maltese Islands.

Architecture and Character

Comino Cemetery is modest in scale and reflects the remote and isolated character of the island itself.

The burial ground would historically have consisted of a small enclosed area constructed using traditional Maltese limestone techniques.

Unlike Malta’s major urban cemeteries, Comino Cemetery remained extremely simple and functional because of its specialised role connected with quarantine and isolation.

The cemetery’s remote setting contributes significantly to its atmosphere. Surrounded by open countryside, garigue vegetation, cliffs, and silence, the site remains one of Malta’s most isolated historic burial grounds.

Historical Importance

Comino Cemetery is historically important because it preserves evidence of Malta’s public health history and the Mediterranean quarantine system.

The cemetery illustrates:

• the dangers of maritime disease transmission,
• the importance of quarantine measures,
• Malta’s strategic role in Mediterranean shipping,
• the use of isolated islands for epidemic control,
• and Comino’s wartime role during World War I.

The burial ground therefore possesses significance extending far beyond the small island itself.

Modern Comino

Today Comino is internationally famous for the Blue Lagoon and tourism, yet many visitors remain unaware of the island’s remarkable medical and quarantine history.

The cemetery survives as one of the few visible reminders of Comino’s former role as an isolation station and medical detention site.

Although modern tourism dominates the island during summer months, the cemetery continues to preserve an important and often forgotten chapter of Maltese history.

Visiting Comino Cemetery

Visitors to Comino Cemetery should treat the site respectfully because it forms part of Malta’s historic quarantine and memorial landscape.

The cemetery may be reached on foot from Santa Marija Bay and nearby walking routes crossing the island.

Nearby historic attractions include:

• Santa Marija Chapel,
• Saint Mary’s Tower
• Santa Marija Battery
• Isolation Hospital
• and the Blue Lagoon.

The cemetery remains particularly important for researchers interested in medical history, quarantine systems, wartime internment, and Malta’s maritime heritage.

Conclusion

Comino Cemetery remains one of the most historically unusual cemeteries in the Maltese Islands.

Its burials connected with plague, cholera, maritime quarantine, and wartime internment provide important evidence of Malta’s role as a Mediterranean health checkpoint during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The cemetery also preserves the memory of individuals who died in isolation far from home while attempting to enter Malta or while detained during wartime.

Today the cemetery stands as a rare and powerful reminder of the human history behind quarantine, disease prevention, and maritime isolation in the Mediterranean world.