Madliena Tower

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Madliena Tower

The Madliena Tower , also Madalena Tower , is a fortification in Malta that was built during the reign of the Order of St. John . The tower stands on a peninsula north of the village of Pembroke on the main island. He monitored the entrances to St Paul's Bay and Mellieha Bay in the north of the island.

The tower is one of a series of thirteen watchtowers that were built during the reign of Grand Master Martin de Redin from 1657 to 1660. These towers are also known as de Redin Towers after him . Compared to the Wignacourt Towers , built between 1609 and 1614 , the task of these towers had changed. Much smaller and less armed, they were primarily used as observation posts, from which the garrisons in Valletta and other places were to be alerted when an enemy fleet approached . For this purpose, the towers, together with the Wignancourt Towers and the Lascaris Towers, were arranged within sight of each other so that optical signals could be transmitted day and night. To the west of the tower is St Mark's Tower , to the east is St George's Tower .

The Madliena Tower was built in 1658. Like all other de Redin Towers, it has a square floor plan. The side length is around 8.2 m. The tower has two floors. In the basement there is a larger, windowless storage room. Access to this room is at ground level. The first floor rests on stone transverse vaults. It is accessed via a ladder. Inside the tower there is no connection between the ground floor and the first floor. A narrow spiral staircase leads from the first floor in the southern corner of the building to the flat roof with parapet. On the roof in the northern corner, a small turret offers a sheltered shelter for an observation post. The roof is about 17 m high.

The tower was still used during the British colonial rule. The parapet on the roof was raised and reinforced. A gun emplacement was set up on the roof in which a cannon was to be placed on a central pivot mount . These changes were likely made in the late 1860s to early 1870s. They were probably related to the expansion of the island's coastal and land-side fortifications, as the tower closed a gap between Fort Pembroke and Fort Madalena . A one-story kitchen building had already been added to the tower earlier. It is doubtful whether the cannon was actually set up. On the one hand, the lack of the appropriate armoring does not indicate a stationing of the gun, on the other hand such stationing is not listed in the literature.

In 1908, two fixed firing positions each for a QF 12 pounder 12 cwt naval gun were set up in the immediate vicinity of the tower . Originally the installation of two more QF 6 pounders Hotchkiss was planned, but not carried out. This has brought the cost of building the position down from £ 177 to just over £ 99. The fire control station for the guns was set up on the roof of the tower. The cannons were intended primarily for use against sea targets at night, which is also expressed in the name QF Battery for Night Practice . A storage room was built behind each gun that could hold 300 propellant charges and 200 shells each. The guns were in place until the 1920s. At that time they were used by the Royal Malta Artillery for training purposes.

The existence of an electric searchlight is documented for 1935. During the Second World War the tower was used again for military purposes. A new position for a gun was built directly next to the tower. This position was made of concrete, roofed and open to the sea.

The tower is largely preserved. However, the access to the first floor was walled up, and the entrance in the basement was secured by a steel door that was not true to the original. The coat of arms of the reigning Grand Master is missing above the former entrance on the first floor.

Remnants of the gun emplacements of the QF Battery for Night Practice are still visible near the tower . The kitchen wing is no longer there.

The tower is owned by the Maltese government and is looked after by the Fondazzjoni landlord Artna . It is listed under inventory number 50 on the List of Cultural Objects of Malta .

  • Madliena Tower, you can see the entrances to the tower.

  • Madliena Tower, view from the southwest. The three-part division into the ground floor, first floor and platform with parapet can be seen.

  • Madliena Tower, view from the northwest. You can see the windowless ground floor and the loopholes on the first floor.

  • Madliena Tower, view from the northeast. On the right at the foot of the tower you can see the position built during the Second World War

  • Madliena Tower, view of St Mark's Tower (Qalet Marku).

literature

Web links

Commons : Madliena Tower  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands: Madliena Tower
  2. ↑ a b c d Stephen C. Spiteri: Madliena Tower - Malta's 'Martello' Tower

Coordinates: 35 ° 56 ′ 11.8 "  N , 14 ° 28 ′ 23.1"  E