Explore Paola

About Paola

Paola is best known as the home of the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum — quietly one of the most extraordinary archaeological sites in the world. Discovered by chance in 1902 when workmen were digging a cistern, the Hypogeum is a three-level underground necropolis carved by hand into the soft limestone between approximately 4000 and 2500 BC — a complex of interlinked chambers, halls, and small burial cells where the remains of an estimated 7,000 people were interred. The famous 'Oracle Chamber', with its acoustic resonance that amplifies low male voices through the entire complex (a phenomenon archaeologists still don't fully understand), and the beautifully carved 'Holy of Holies' — with red-ochre spiral and concentric-circle paintings on its ceiling — are mind-altering to stand inside. Because the underground microclimate is so fragile, only 80 visitors per day are allowed in (10 at a time, on guided 1-hour tours), and tickets must be booked online weeks in advance. The visit is essential for anyone serious about prehistoric Europe. Paola itself also has the impressively decorative neo-Gothic Christ the King parish church and is a stone's throw from Valletta and the Three Cities for further exploration.