Marsalforn Tower ( mt, Torri ta' Marsalforn) refers to two towers that stood near

Marsalforn Marsalforn (Pronounced: ''Marsa el-Forn, , '' Maltese: ''Marsalforn''), also written as M'Forn for shortcut purposes, is a town on the north coast of Gozo, the second largest island of the Maltese archipelago. The town lies between the hi ...

, in the limits of

Xagħra Xagħra ( mt, Ix-Xagħra) is an administrative unit of Malta, on the island of Gozo. It is one of the earliest inhabited parts of Gozo, being home to the Ġgantija megalithic temples which date back to the year 3600BC and the Xagħra Stone Circl ...

Gozo Gozo (, ), Maltese: ''Għawdex'' () and in antiquity known as Gaulos ( xpu, 𐤂𐤅𐤋, ; grc, Γαῦλος, Gaúlos), is an island in the Maltese archipelago in the Mediterranean Sea. The island is part of the Republic of Malta. After ...

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 ...

. The first one was built in 1616, as the fourth of six

Wignacourt towers The Wignacourt towers ( mt, Torrijiet ta' Wignacourt) are a series of large coastal watchtowers built in Malta by the Order of Saint John between 1610 and 1620. A total of six towers of this type were constructed, four of which survive. Backgr ...

, and collapsed in around 1715. The second was a '' Tour-reduit'', which was built in 1720 and demolished in 1915. Both towers formed part of a chain of fortifications built to defend Marsalforn and nearby bays from Ottoman or Barbary attacks. Although the area was fortified by several towers, batteries, redoubts and entrenchments, the only surviving vestige of these is

Qolla l-Bajda Battery Qolla l-Bajda Battery ( mt, Batterija tal-Qolla l-Bajda or ) is an artillery battery in Żebbuġ, Gozo, Malta. It was built by the Order of Saint John between 1715 and 1716 as one of a series of coastal fortifications around the coasts of the M ...

between

Qbajjar Qbajjar Bay ( mt, Il-Qbajjar) is a small bay near Marsalforn, in the limits of Żebbuġ on the island of Gozo, Malta, this small bay is part of Marsalforn. It is located between Xwejni Bay to the west, and Marsalforn Bay to the east. The 18th cen ...

and Xwejni Bays.

First tower

The first tower, which was also known as Xagħra Tower ( mt, Torri tax-Xagħra), was the fourth of the

. Construction started in around 1614 or 1615, and the tower was completed in 1616. The tower commanded Marsalforn Bay to the west, and

Ramla Bay Ramla Bay (, "red sands") is a bay with a beach of reddish-coloured sand in Gozo, in the Maltese Islands. It lies on the north-east coast of the island, between the bays of Marsalforn and San Blas. The closest village is Xagħra. Planning permis ...

to the east, effectively guarding the northern approach to Gozo. It was clearly visible from the northern walls of the

Cittadella Cittadella ( vec, Sitadeła) is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is in circumference with a diameter of around ...

, so it could communicate directly with the garrison there. Its design was attributed to the military engineer Giovanni Rinaldini. This tower was probably not financed by Wignacourt like the other towers, but by the Order itself, and the cost of building it is not known. The tower's design is completely different from the other Wignacourt towers, since it did not have any turrets. It had a square base, and roughly the same size as the

Wignacourt Tower Wignacourt Tower ( mt, Torri ta' Wignacourt), also known as Saint Paul's Bay Tower ( mt, Torri ta' San Pawl il-Baħar), is a bastioned watchtower in St. Paul's Bay, Malta. It was the first of six Wignacourt towers to be built, and the first ston ...

St. Paul's Bay St. Paul's Bay ( mt, San Pawl il-Baħar) is a town in the Northern Region of Malta, sixteen kilometres () northwest of the capital Valletta. Saint Paul's Bay is the largest town in the Northern Region and the seat of the Northern Regional Comm ...

. The tower was built on the edge of a cliff, which was prone to erosion. In 1681, it was briefly abandoned after part of the cliff face collapsed. The Order still kept a garrison in the tower, but further damage was sustained in the

1693 Sicily earthquake The 1693 Sicily earthquake struck parts of southern Italy near Sicily, Calabria, and Malta on January 11 at around 21:00 local time. This earthquake was preceded by a damaging foreshock on January 9. The main quake had an estimated magnitude of 7 ...

, when cracks on the cliff face extended to beneath the tower. The Order sent an engineer to inspect the damage, but he believed that the tower would remain standing for at least another century. Despite this, new cracks developed by 1701, and plans were made to abandon the tower and build a new one to replace it. Marsalforn Tower was still in operation in 1715, when Philippe de Vendôme visited it and was greeted with a five-gun salute by the tower's Castellan, Domenico Azzupardi. The tower disappears from military records after this visit, and is believed to have collapsed or was dismantled later in 1715 or 1716. The only ruins of the tower visible today is a mound of rubble at the edge of the cliff face.

Second tower

The second Marsalforn Tower was built in the centre of the tal-Qortin plateau some time after the first tower had collapsed. Construction is believed to have begun sometime in 1720, and the tower was first mentioned on official records on 10 May 1722, when it was complete but it was still lacking its door and drawbridge. ) after Grand Master Ramon Perellos y Roccaful,, date=September 2016 and it was designed by the military engineer

Charles François de Mondion Charles François de Mondion (6 October 1681 – 25 December 1733) was a French architect and military engineer who was active in Hospitaller Malta in the early 18th century. He was also a member of the Order of Saint John. Career Mondion was bor ...

. A chapel was also located in the tower. The only known photograph of the tower was taken by the photographer Michele Farrugia in around 1910. By this time, the tower was partially in ruins, and part of the central vedette had already collapsed. This tower was demolished by the British military in 1915, and a wireless station was built in its place. The station was pulled down four years later in 1919. Some foundations of the tower are still reportedly visible.

References

{{Redoubts Wignacourt towers 17th-century fortifications Buildings and structures completed in 1616 Buildings and structures demolished in 1715 1616 establishments in Malta 1715 disestablishments in Malta Collapsed buildings and structures Redoubts in Malta 18th-century fortifications Infrastructure completed in 1720 Buildings and structures demolished in 1915 1720 establishments in Malta 1915 disestablishments in Malta Demolished buildings and structures in Malta Ruins in Malta Former towers Buildings and structures in Xagħra 18th Century military history of Malta