Xlendi Tower
The Xlendi Tower ( Maltese Torri tax-Xlendi ) is a defense tower southeast of the village of Xlendi in the municipality of Munxar on the island of Gozo, which belongs to Malta . It is a Grade 1 listed building and is listed in the National Inventory of Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands under number 36.
description
The two-storey defense tower rises at the entrance to Xlendi Bay on a 10 by 10 meter square floor plan and shows thick, sloping walls. A rectangular protrusion can be seen on the sea side, the purpose of which is no longer known. The main entrance is on the north wall and is accessible via a staircase - originally separated from the tower - and a no longer preserved wooden drawbridge .
history
Previous buildings
When the Knights and Hospital Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and Malta settled in the Maltese archipelago, the city of Birgu was first fortified. After the siege of Malta in 1565 , Valletta was built and fortified. Both cities were by the sea and were therefore able to repel naval attacks even before troops landed. In contrast, the fortified city of Gozos, Rabat , was in the center of the island and could therefore not counter naval attacks or the landing of troops. Gozo was exposed to the attacks of Ottoman ships, as well as frequent corsair raids . The enemy troops freely plundered the island and dragged the inhabitants into slavery . In 1551, during a siege of Gozo, around 6,000 Gozitans were enslaved and the citadel of ir-Rabat was destroyed. It was concluded from this event that a counterattack had to take place before enemies could reach the island's coast.
The Grand Master of the Order of Malta Martin Garzez presented late 16th century 12,000 crowns ready to bring in Mġarr the Garzes Tower to build, which should protect the harbor of the city, but until his death in 1601 it did not come to the start of construction. Only Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt ordered the construction of the Garzes Tower in 1605. This tower was demolished in 1848. Another tower was built in 1616 in Marsalforn on the Qortin tax-Xaghra plateau, which was demolished in 1716 because of the risk of collapse.
Building history
The Xlendi Tower was built in 1650 under Grand Master Jean de Lascaris-Castellar . The Gozos government agency, called Università , bore the costs . Since the previous buildings have not been preserved, this tower is the oldest of its kind on Gozo. Only the St Mary's Tower , built in 1618 on the small neighboring island of Comino , is older.
The first drafts from 1649 came from the Bailli Baldassare de Demandolx. After a construction period of just over a year, the tower was completed. Grand Master Lascaris ordered two cannons to be placed on the tower. The tower was manned by an artilleryman called Capo Mastro as a commander , who was accompanied by an aggiutante ( adjutant ). In addition, a three-man guard was part of the tower crew.
As early as 1681, just 31 years after completion, the tower was classified as in need of restoration. In 1761, at the suggestion of the French military advisor Count de Bourlamaque, the cliffs around the tower were steeply demolished and provided with escarp walls to create an insurmountable obstacle. Under British rule, Xlendi Tower was manned by the Royal Malta Fancible Regiment , which was renamed the Royal Malta Fancible Artillery in 1861 . In 1873 the function of the watchtowers ended and the tower was abandoned. During the Second World War it was operated by the Maltese Coast Guard as a coast guard station.
After the advent of the airplane and modern warfare, the towers of Malta and thus the Xlendi Tower became uninteresting from a military point of view. In 1954 it was leased to private individuals who, however, largely left it to decay. On August 6, 2009, Parliamentary State Secretary for Finance and Lands Jason Azzopardi handed over the tower in equal parts to Dín l-Art Ħelwa and the Kunsil of Munxar. Since then, the historically significant building has been reconstructed by Dín l-Art Ħelwa and the municipality of Munxar with half the costs.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Din l-Art Helwa to restore Xlendi Tower in Gozo. In: News. Dín l-Art Ħelwa , August 6, 2009, accessed December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c Torri tax-Xlendi / Xlendi Tower. (PDF) In: National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands. Sovrintendenza tal-Patrimonju Kulturale, June 28, 2013, accessed on December 19, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Xlendi Tower, Munxar, Gozo. In: Restored in Partnership. Dín l-Art Ħelwa, accessed December 19, 2019 .
Coordinates: 36 ° 1 ′ 39.5 ″ N , 14 ° 12 ′ 48 ″ E