Qawra Tower ( mt, Torri tal-Qawra), also known as Qawra Point Tower ( mt, Torri ta' Ras il-Qawra) or Fra Ben Tower ( mt, Torri ta' Fra Ben), is a small

watchtower A watchtower or watch tower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Its main purpose is to ...

Qawra Qawra ( mt, Il-Qawra, ) is a zone within St. Paul's Bay in the Northern Region, Malta, Northern Region, Malta. It is located close to Buġibba and Salina, Malta, Salina, and it is a popular tourist resort, containing many hotels and restaurants. ...

, limits of St. Paul's Bay,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. It was completed in 1638 as the fourth of the

Lascaris towers The Laskaris or Lascaris ( el, Λάσκαρις, later Λάσκαρης) family was a Byzantine Greek noble family whose members formed the ruling dynasty of the Empire of Nicaea from 1204 to 1261 and remained among the senior nobility up to the d ...

. An artillery battery was built around the tower in 1715. Today, the tower and battery are a restaurant.

History

Qawra Tower was built in 1638 near the tip of Qawra Point, commanding the entrance to St. Paul's Bay to the west and Salina Bay to the east. It was built on or near the site of a medieval watch post. Since 1659, it has

Għallis Tower Għallis Tower ( mt, Torri tal-Għallis), originally known as ''Torre delle Saline'', is a small watchtower in Salina, limits of Naxxar, Malta. It was completed in 1658 as the second of the De Redin towers. Today, the tower is in fair condition. ...

in its line of sight. This linked Qawra Tower with the

De Redin towers The De Redin Towers ( mt, Torrijiet ta' De Redin) are a series of small coastal watchtowers built in Malta by the Order of Saint John between 1658 and 1659. Thirteen towers were built around the coast of mainland Malta, eight of which still surv ...

that allowed communication from Gozo to

Valletta Valletta (, mt, il-Belt Valletta, ) is an administrative unit and capital of Malta. Located on the main island, between Marsamxett Harbour to the west and the Grand Harbour to the east, its population within administrative limits in 2014 wa ...

. The tower's design is similar to the other Lascaris towers, with two floors each having a single room. Access to the upper floor was originally by a wooden ladder or ''scala di corda''. In 1715, a semi-circular gun battery was built around the seaward side of the tower. The battery had a low parapet, with guns being mounted ''en barbette''. There were two blockhouses, which were linked by a V-shaped redan containing the main gate. Both the blockhouses and the redan were pierced with musketry loopholes. An entrenchment wall was built close to the tower and battery in the 1760s, and parts of it can still be seen. The tower was included on the Antiquities List of 1925. Before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the battery was fitted with two concrete gun emplacements. A

pillbox Pillbox may refer to: * Pill organizer, a container for medicine * Pillbox hat, a woman's hat with a flat crown, straight upright sides, and no brim * Pillbox (military) A pillbox is a type of blockhouse, or concrete dug-in guard-post, norm ...

was also built nearby.

Present day

Today, the tower is a restaurant, while the heavily altered battery serves as a swimming pool. The tower is slightly dilapidated, having been plastered with cement at some time, which is now flaking away, and has had water tanks and rough additional brickwork added to its roof.

External links

National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands
{{Batteries in Malta Lascaris towers Batteries in Malta Towers completed in 1638 Military installations established in 1715 Restaurants in Malta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands 1638 establishments in Malta Buildings and structures in St. Paul's Bay

History

Present day

Further reading

External links