• The Calabrian towers

    This is a list of the most important Towers that stand in Calabria.
    The Towers were used in the past to defend the territory from the bizarre incursions, Saracens, Arabs and Normans.

    Bastione di Malta – Gizzeria (CATANZARO)
    The Malta bastion is a tower located in the territory of the municipality of Lamezia Terme, near Gizzeria Lido. It differs from most coastal towers that stretch the coasts of the Mezzogiorno, already the Kingdom of Naples or the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, for the thickness of the walls which is a few meters and makes it suitable for defense against firearms attacks.

    Torre di Carlo V – Soverato (CATANZARO)
    The Tower of Charles V, also named Tower of Guard or Turrax, is one of the places to see in Soverato. Formed as a seaport at the end of the sixteenth century, it was further fortified for defense purposes by the Spanish Viceroy Don Pedro of Toledo. The tower is square-shaped and rises on a spur overlooking the Ionian Sea. It is listed among the 339 Coastal Towers of the Kingdom of Naples built along the coast of the South. Currently, the tower is privately owned.

    Torre di Sant’Antonio – Santa Caterina dello Ionio (CATANZARO)
    The Tower of St. Anthony is a “cavallara” tower built in the 13th century that served for the sighting of pirate fleets (Balkans, Greeks, Anatolians) coming from the sea. It is called “Cavallara” because it was guarded by two guards (each known as Cavallaro, from which the widespread surname) who, on horseback, fluttered the coast in turn. The danger signs were widespread with smoke and flames (at night) lit on the top. If the date is accurate, the Tower is the first (or one of the first) on the southern Ionian coast, and precedes the angioinous and long-lasting towers of the late XIV century.

    Now Torre S.Antonio is a beautiful resort.

    Torre di Bastia – Belmonte Calabro, (COSENZA)
    The tower of Bastia was a coastal tower located in the homonymous village of Belmonte Calabro, in the province of Cosenza.
    Built in the sixteenth century, it was planted on the ground in 1930 with the construction of the monument to Michele Bianchi.
    The Torre della Bastia was built, by order of the Bishop of Vercelli, in 1296 by the inhabitants of Sala Biellese and Donato in order to control pastures, waterways and neighboring communication roads. It was completely destroyed in 1308 by the inhabitants of Andrate, Bienca and Chiaverano, tired of the usurpations suffered.

    Torre Talao – Scalea (COSENZA)
    The Torre Talao is a coastal tower dating to the 16th century is the symbol of Scalea, an example of Aragonese military architecture in southern Italy. The Talao Tower was built in 1563 by Pedro Afán de Ribera d’Alcalá, Viceroy of the Kingdom of Naples.
    During the excavations in the caves of Torre Talao, important evidence of the Mousterian phase in Calabria was discovered, the remains of Pleistocene fauna, such as arrows and flies, findings confirming the presence of Neanderthal man. The Talao Tower was once an island like those of Cirella and Dino and, according to myth, these islets were probably the errantes scoffing that he called Homer in the 12th Book of the Odyssey, because Ulysses would have stayed with his comrades, adventure.

    Torre del Mordillo – Spezzano Albanese (COSENZA)
    The del Mordillo tower is a fortification of medieval times, a sighting tower, named after the site, on a hill, today in the territory of Spezzano Albanese (province of Cosenza), above the confluence point of the Esaro rivers and Coscile, respectively affluent and subaffluent of Crati.
    About a kilometer downstream of the confluence between the Esaro and Coscile rivers, at the center of the reliefs that close to the plain of Sibari, just two kilometers from the village of Spezzano Albanese lies the necropolis of the plateau of Torre del Mordillo.

    Torre di Capo Nao – Capo Colonna (CROTONE)
    The Torre di Capo Nao, more commonly known as Torre di Nao or Nao Tower, is a 16th-century monument located in Cape Colonna, in the province of Crotone.
    The tower is constructed as a defense element, consisting of a square base, a smooth and simple appearance, but at the same time massive and imposing. Access to the tower is elevated, and to enter three climbing stairs leading to a small retractable drawbridge, which can be operated by a pram from the inside. These two details made the tower almost impenetrable and even more defensive, considering also the various elements of its offense, such as various archibugs, now transformed into simple windows, and the piomboats on the top of the tower. Only after the recent renovation, a downstairs door was installed to allow even the most basic emergency measures.

    Torre dell’Orologio – Terranova (REGGIO CALABRIA)
    TheTorre dell’Orologio of Terranova Sappo Minulio (early 20th century) is a “brick” brick made from the ancient and renowned ceramediu (brick factory) of Terranova Sappo Minulio, a tower designed by the geometry Antonino Pellicano Loschiavo of Radicena (the ancient name of one of the two centers – the other is Jatrinoli – which gave rise to the current Taurianova: from 1928 to 1946 in the “macrocomune” of Taurianova was also included New Sappo Minulio). It is likely that the existence of a brick factory in the country has influenced the designer’s architectural choices, especially for the use of materials.

    Torre Cavallo – Villa San Giovanni (REGGIO CALABRIA)
    Torre Cavallo is one of the old sixteenth-century sightseeing towers in the Reggio Calabria district, part of the Strait of Messina’s defensive system. The tower stands on the cliffs overhanging the Calabrian shore between Cannitello (fraction of Villa San Giovanni) and Scilla.
    In the Middle Ages, there was a strong danger to the raids of the Saracen pirates and then the Turks in the Middle Ages. For this reason numerous sighting towers were erected on the coast’s advanced points, ready to give the alarm just on the horizon a suspicious sail was formed. Torre Cavallo was built around 1559 at the expense of the University of Scilla, who had to pay a silk duty to the city of Reggio.

    Torre Saracena – Palmi (REGGIO CALABRIA)
    The Palmi’s Saracen Tower is one of the old sixteenth-century sightseeing towers on the coast of the Costa Viola. The structure stands on top of Taureana’s plateau, close to a cliff overlooking the beach of Lido di Palmi. Built in 1565, it was formerly known as Pietrenere Tower (or “Le Pietre Negre”) to distinguish it from the other Palmi sighting tower, called Torre di San Francesco, which is currently disappearing.
    From September the tower, is part of the complex of the archaeological park of the Tauriani “Antonio De Salvo”.

    Torre di San Francesco – Palmi (REGGIO CALABRIA)
    TheTorre di San FrancescoTower of St. Francis was one of the old Palmi’s sixteenth century sight-seeing towers, and stood along the coast of the Costa Viola in the area which still contains the name Torre.
    In 1549, when the ruins of Palmi were destroyed by the Turkish villain Dragut Rais, [2] the duke of Seminara Charles II Spinelli, who had become the feudal lord of the city in 1555, decided to rebuild the “land of Palma” and to fortify it. [3] Therefore he also decided to build the two guarding towers. [4] Built in about 1565, the two towers were called a “Saint Francis” and the other, still existing, “of Pietrenere”



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