Mellieħa WWII Air Raid Shelters

The shelters were dug into the soft limestone hill from 1941 onwards and now extend over five hundred metres of passages, rooms, and chapels — including hand-cut alcoves where families lived, a small kitchen, latrines, and the makeshift maternity. The entrance is at street level just west of the parish church.

The tour is self-guided with good interpretation panels and takes about thirty minutes. It is cool year-round (good in summer) but the passages are narrow and uneven — sensible shoes are essential, and people who do not like enclosed spaces should think twice. Combine with the rock-cut sanctuary and parish church above for a half-day on Mellieha's hill.

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A story
Malta was the most heavily bombed place on earth in 1942, and Mellieha lay directly under the flight path of Axis raids on the airfield at Ta' Qali. The shelters under the parish church were cut by hand by villagers, working in shifts at night with picks and lamps. At the height of the siege over five hundred people lived underground here for weeks at a time. A maternity ward was set up at the deepest point — at least two babies are recorded as having been born thirty metres below the parish church.

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