Qawra Tower

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Qawra Tower (2008)

Qawra Tower , also known as Qawra Point Tower or Ta 'Fra Ben Tower , is a watchtower near Qawra Point in the Maltese village of Qawra , which belongs to the municipality of San Pawl il-Baħar on the main island of Malta . The tower is a Grade 1 listed building and is listed in the National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands under the number 1379.

history

The Qawra Tower was built in 1638 under the reign of Grand Master Jean de Lascaris as the fourth or fifth of the Lascaris Towers .

description

The watchtower consists of a simple rectangular structure. It has a height of 11 m and a floor area of ​​about 36 m². The walls of the lower half are bevelled. Access from the outside was originally only possible via the first floor, to which a wooden ladder or a rope ladder ( Italian scala di corda ) led.

The interior of the tower is divided by a false ceiling, which rests on wall arches, creating two rooms one above the other. The upper one was intended as living space for the soldiers stationed there, the lower, windowless room as a warehouse. The roof of the tower, which rests on wooden beams, is surrounded by a parapet that is reinforced with battlements .

In the years 1715/1716 a semicircular coastal battery was built around the tower. This was carried out with a low crenellated wall as a gun bank (en barbette) and a steep ditch carved into the rock. The flanks were protected by two log houses that were connected by a V-shaped redan in which the main gate was located. There were musket holes in the walls of all buildings . Twentieth century plans of the battery show that it was reinforced by concrete gun banks prior to World War II.

use

With the end of the Second World War, the use of the Qawra Tower as a fortification also ended. In the 21st century there is a restaurant there.

literature

  • Stephen C. Spiteri : Fortresses of the Cross. Malta 1994, p. 523.
  • Vincent Zammit: Fortifications in the Middle Ages. Volume 1. PEG, Ħamrun 1984, p. 33.
  • MBH Richie: The Fougasses of Malta. In: Archivum Melitense 6 (1927) 5/03, pp. 195-203, online .

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Quentin Hughes : Malta. A guide to the fortifications , pp. 95ff
  2. ↑ Stephen C. Spiteri : Naxxar and its fortifications. In: Military Architecture. Archived from the original on January 16, 2016 ; accessed on February 12, 2020 (English).
  3. ↑ a b c d Qawra Point Tower & Battery. (PDF; 4.2 MB) In: National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands. Sovrintendenza tal-Patrimonju Kulturale, June 28, 2013, accessed on April 11, 2020 .

Coordinates: 35 ° 57 ′ 33 ″  N , 14 ° 25 ′ 28 ″  E