Qrendi Tower

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Qrendi Tower (2017)

The Qrendi Tower ( Maltese Torri tal-Qrendi ), also called Cavalier Tower , is a defense tower in the center of the Maltese community of Qrendi . It is a Grade 1 building under monument protection .

Building

The tower rises - the only one on the Maltese islands  - on an octagonal (octagonal) floor plan. It is surrounded by several other buildings, some of which were probably built before the siege of Malta (1565) . The building has three floors, between the second and third floor there is a surrounding cornice with a square cross-section. There is a small window in each of the four directions. The main entrance to the tower is in an adjacent building, which was originally a medieval mill or a chapel. The year 1605 is inscribed above one of the entrances to this room. The flat roof is bordered by a stone parapet, which is interrupted by six machiculis .

Inside, the ceilings are supported by pointed stone arches .

history

The time when the defense tower was built is disputed. Until the end of the 20th century, it was assumed that the entire building ensemble was built in the 16th century, during the time of the Order of Malta . Stephen C. Spiteri , however, puts the time of construction much earlier due to the structural features of the tower. He refers to the raids by corsairs , who threatened Malta since the late 14th century, and to the existence of older defensive towers from the time before the reign of the order such as the Tarf il-Għarses at the Grand Harbor and the Torre Falca inland , which was manned by soldiers until the 18th century. Spiteri therefore advocates that the tower was built between 1380 and 1480. This dating is taken from more recent publications.

use

The building is privately owned and used as part of a residential building.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Stephen C. Spiteri : A Medieval Tower at Qrendi? In: ARX . Journal of Military Architecture. No. 6 , 2008, p. 58-59 .
  2. ↑ a b One World - Protecting the most significant buildings, monuments and features of the Maltese islands (22). Torri tal-Kaptan, Qrendi. Times of Malta , July 18, 2009, accessed January 2, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b c Torri tal-Qrendi / Qrendi Tower - Torre Cavalieri. (PDF; 916 kB) In: National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands. Sovrintendenza tal-Patrimonju Kulturale, June 28, 2013, accessed on January 3, 2020 .

Coordinates: 35 ° 50 ′ 11 ″  N , 14 ° 27 ′ 29 ″  E