The Tower of San Ciprianu ( co, torra di San Ciprianu, link=no or , , ; it, torre di San Cipriano, link=no; ) is a

Genoese tower The Genoese towers in Corsica (french: tours génoises de Corse, co, torri ghjenuvesi di Corsica, singular : , also ; it, torri genovesi di Corsica) are a series of coastal defences constructed by the Republic of Genoa between 1530 and 1620 to s ...

located in the

French commune The () is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, ' in Germany, ' in Italy, or ' in Spain. The United Kingdom's equi ...

Lecci Lecci is a commune in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica. Its name comes from the Italian word for Holly Oak, which was an important resource for many years. Population Sights * Torra di San Benedettu * Torra ...

Southern Corsica Corse-du-Sud (; co, link=no, Corsica suttana , or ; en, Southern Corsica) is (as of 2019) an administrative department of France, consisting of the southern part of the island of Corsica. The corresponding departmental territorial collect ...

. The tower sits at an elevation of 57 m and guarded the entrance to the port of

Porto-Vecchio Porto-Vecchio (, ; it, Porto Vecchio or ; co, Portivechju or ) is a commune in the French department of Corse-du-Sud, on the island of Corsica. Porto-Vecchio is a medium-sized port city placed on a good harbor, the southernmost of the mars ...

. The construction of the tower was begun in 1589. It is one of a series of coastal defences constructed by the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( lij, Repúbrica de Zêna ; it, Repubblica di Genova; la, Res Publica Ianuensis) was a medieval and early modern maritime republic from the 11th century to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast. During the Lat ...

between 1530 and 1620 to stem the attacks by

Barbary pirates The Barbary pirates, or Barbary corsairs or Ottoman corsairs, were Muslim pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Salé, Rabat, Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli, Libya, Tripoli. This area was known i ...

. The design of the San Ciprianu tower is unusual in being square rather than round. The tower is privately owned and in 1995 was listed as one of the official historical monuments of France.

Notes and references

External links

* Includes information on how to reach 90 towers and many photographs. * Towers in Corsica Monuments historiques of Corsica {{Corsica-struct-stub