Gauci Tower ( mt, Torri Gauci, it, Torre Gauci) is a

tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifi ...

Naxxar Naxxar ( mt, In-Naxxar) is a small city in the Northern Region of Malta, with a population of 14,891 people as of March 2014. The Naxxar Church is dedicated to Our Lady of Victories. The annual village feast is celebrated on 8 September. Naxx ...

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 built before 1548 by the Gauci family. Today, the tower is in good condition.

History

Gauci Tower was built sometime before 1548 by Francesco Gauci to protect his family from corsair raids. Construction cost a total of 400

scudi The ''scudo'' (pl. ''scudi'') was the name for a number of coins used in various states in the Italian peninsula until the 19th century. The name, like that of the French écu and the Spanish and Portuguese escudo, was derived from the Latin ''s ...

. In 1548, it was requisitioned by the

Order of Saint John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

, who ruled the Maltese Islands, to house the Captain of the

militia. Gauci petitioned against this move, and the tower was returned to him on 16 May 1548. Eventually, the Order built the nearby

Captain's Tower Captain's Tower ( mt, Torri tal-Kaptan) is a tower in Naxxar, Malta. It was built sometime after 1548 by the Order of Saint John. Today, the tower is in good condition. History The Captain's Tower was built by the Order of Saint John to house ...

to house the Captain of the militia. The tower is quite small, and it has a square plan, with its lower half being slightly more pronounced. A number of box machicolations are located at the crest of its high

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

. It also has musketry loopholes and vision slits. A townhouse, which was also built by Gauci, is located next to the tower. By the late 17th century, Gauci Tower had lost most of its defensive value. The Chapel of St. Paul was built in front of it in 1696. The tower and adjacent townhouse needed a lot of repairs and restoration, as they were uninhabited for multiple years. A lot of the construction materials had to be imported to the island. The most difficult renovation included dismantling the air-raid shelter on the ground floor of the tower, which had been used during WWII. This air-raid shelter was built by British forces during the war to protect Malta's highest judge, Sir Arturo Mercieca. In the tower, 30cm steel cement was cutting through the three arches, supported by giant pillars. On the 450th Birthday of the tower – May 16, 1998 – all restoration work was finally finished, and a ceremony led by the mayor of Naxxar led to the switching-on of the flood-light system of this beautiful tower and adjacent St. Pawl's Chapel.

References

External links

National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands
{{Historic Watch Towers of Malta Fortified towers in Malta Towers completed in the 16th century Naxxar Limestone buildings in Malta National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands Fortified houses in Malta 16th-century fortifications

History

Further reading

References

External links