St Paul's Bay Tower

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St Paul's Bay Tower
St Paul's Bay Tower, view from the sea side

The St Paul's Bay Tower , also wignacourt towers called, is one during the reign of the Order of St. John , built in 1609 Fortress in Malta . The tower stands on the south bank of St Paul's Bay . It is one of a series of six fortifications built during the reign of Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt from 1609 to 1620, known as the Wignacourt Towers . It is included in the National Inventory of the Cultural Assets of the Maltese Islands .

prehistory

The bay of St. Paul, located in the north of the island of Malta, was used by Ottoman troops as a landing site as early as 1551 and 1565. Corsairs also repeatedly went ashore here , raided the villages on the island and dragged the population into slavery. Although these raids were not per se for the facilities of the order located in the area of ​​the Grand Harbor , they could cause considerable damage and seriously disrupt the supply of the island. The deportation of the island's indigenous population into slavery would make the island uninhabitable in the long term and thus endanger the position of the Johanniter as a whole. Despite its importance, the bay had remained unpaved for a long time. It was not until 1609 that the resources of the order made it possible to build a fortification at this point.

Building and construction

The design of the tower is attributed to the Maltese architect Vittorio Cassar . Construction began in 1609 and was completed the following year. The cost was 6,748 scudi .

The tower has a square floor plan and has two floors. The tower has four corner towers. The corner towers are designed as pseudobastions . However, the flanks of these bastions were very narrow. The base of the curtain was also in line with that of the towers. This reduced the effectiveness of the flanking fire. Two of the four corner towers towered over the tower and served as weather protection for observation posts. Originally the tower had defensive keep . On both floors there is a storage or accommodation room vaulted with a barrel vault. Access was via a stone staircase and a drawbridge to the first floor. Both the windowless basement and the flat roof were accessed via stairs inside the tower. The main armament was placed behind the parapet on the roof.

British colonial rule

At the beginning of British colonial rule, the tower was initially continued to be used. Plans from 1813 for expansion were not implemented. In 1828 the demolition of all the towers, redoubts and batteries built by the knights was proposed and ordered in 1832, but the St Paul's Bay Tower remained. Like the other towers that are no longer in use, it was handed over to the local authorities.

literature

Web links

Commons : St. Paul's Bay Tower  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Quentin Hughes: Malta. A guide to the fortifications , pp. 279ff
  2. ↑ Quentin Hughes: Malta. A guide to the fortifications , p. 203
  3. ↑ Quentin Hughes: Malta. A guide to the fortifications , p. 96

Coordinates: 35 ° 56 ′ 58 ″  N , 14 ° 24 ′ 10 ″  E