Torre de Fornells
The Torre de Fornells is one of the many defense towers that surround the coast of Menorca . The tower was built during the British rule between 1801 and 1802 for surveillance at the entrance to Fornells harbor . The construction has the shape of a truncated cone and consists of a dry stone wall, the outside of which is reinforced with sandstone blocks. The original front door was on the first floor and access was via wooden stairs that could be removed in the event of an attack. Above the entrance there is a weir keep with four machiculis .
The outer wall has a reinforcing slope up to half the height of the tower. This consists of four levels. There is a cistern in the basement . The ground floor served as a warehouse for weapons, ammunition and food. The soldiers of the garrison were housed on the first floor. The upper floor was the platform for the artillery, where there was also a small stove with which the cannonballs could be heated red hot to set enemy ships on fire.
The Torre de Fornells is a listed building and was registered under RI-51-0008577 in the Register Bien de interés cultural .
Until the early 1990s, the tower was privately owned and in pretty bad shape. In 1994 the municipality of Es Mercadal purchased the tower and restored it. A small museum was set up.
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Tower of Fornells. In: MenorcaWeb. September 12, 2004, accessed March 5, 2018 .
Coordinates: 40 ° 3 ′ 41 ″ N , 4 ° 7 ′ 50 ″ E