St Thomas Tower
| St Thomas Tower | ||
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| Alternative name (s): | Torri ta 'San Tumas | |
| Creation time : | 1614 | |
| Conservation status: | restored | |
| Construction: | Limestone - masonry | |
| Place: | Marsascala | |
| Geographical location | 35 ° 51 '40 " N , 14 ° 34' 22" E | |
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The St Thomas Tower is during the reign of the Order of St. John , built in 1614 fort on Malta . The tower stands on a peninsula that separates St Thomas Bay from Marsaskala Creek .
prehistory
After a landing by Ottoman troops in the Bay of Marsaxlokk in 1614 had been repulsed by the guns of the St Lucian Tower , the fleet moved to St Thomas Bay or Marsaskala Creek and landed the troops there. This showed the knights the need to fortify this stretch of coast as well. Since the St Lucian Tower had proven itself, the fortification was designed in a similar way.
Building and construction
The tower is occasionally attributed to the Maltese architect Vittorio Cassar . Since Cassar probably died in 1607, this is unlikely. More likely, it is believed that the tower was designed by another Maltese engineer, Gerolamo Bonici. The cost of construction amounted to 13,450 Scudi including the armament.
Like the St Lucians Tower, the St Thomas Tower has a square floor plan. In contrast to this, however, it only has one floor. The two storage rooms have a barrel vault . The flat roof with a parapet was also used here as a place for the installation of guns. The corners of the tower were designed as full bastions . This represented a significant improvement over the St Lucian Tower, as the sides of the tower could be coated with flanking fire. However, in addition to the too thin parapet, the narrow width of the flanks of the bastions was a disadvantage. The entrance is at the back of the tower and overlooks the surrounding grounds. Access is via a drawbridge and a rectangular tower in the land wall surrounding the facility.
Around 1716 a semicircular battery, similar to that of the St Lucian Tower, was built in front of the tower facing the lake. Eight cannons of different calibers and a bronze mortar were placed in the battery . The facility was surrounded by a trench that is said to have been thirty meters wide and more than fifteen meters deep.
British colonial rule
British forces had no military use for the tower. Captain Harry Jones proposed the demolition of the tower and other unused coastal batteries, towers and redoubts in 1828 . However, it was not demolished, although the tower was no longer used as a coastal fortification.
During the Second World War the tower was used as a detention center.
literature
- Quentin Hughes : Malta. A guide to the fortifications , Said International, 1993. ISBN 9990943 07 9
- Stephen C. Spiteri : The Knight's Fortifications: an Illustrated Guide of the Fortifications built by the Knights of St. John in Malta , Book distributors limited, 2001. ISBN 9789990972061
- Charles Stephenson: The Fortifications of Malta 1530-1945. Osprey Publishing Limited, Wellingborough 2004, ISBN 1-84176-693-3 ( Osprey Fortress Series 16).
