The Wignacourt Collegiate Museum at Rabat Malta was formerly the baroque residence of the Chaplains of the Knights of St. John. Initially located outside the former Roman City of Melite, the Wignacourt Museum forms part of a Pauline complex as it is materially linked to St Paul's Grotto, the cradle of Christianity in Malta. This is the place where St Paul the Apostle, in A.D. 60, is believed to have founded the first Christian Community on the island. The building, fully completed in 1749, is on three levels: the underground level consists of a labyrinth of Punic, Roman and Christian Hypogea with interesting architectural features as well as a complex of World War II shelters with two main corridors and about fifty rooms.
The ground floor level consists of a corridor with a number of rooms used as offices and minor collections whilst on the other side is a spacious garden with a built area which once included the refectory of the Chaplains of the Order and an oven which during World War II provided daily more than 2000 loaves for the population of Rabat.
