Għajn Tuffieħa Tower () is a small

watchtower A watchtower or guardtower (also spelt watch tower, guard tower) is a type of military/paramilitary or policiary tower used for guarding an area. Sometimes fortified, and armed with heavy weaponry, especially historically, the structures are ...

Għajn Tuffieħa Għajn Tuffieħa () is a bay and sandy, red beach which is located in Mġarr, Malta. The bay is south of Golden Bay. It is less busy than Golden Bay and often visited by Maltese natives as well as tourists. To reach this beach, one needs to desce ...

, limits of

Mġarr Mġarr (), formerly known as ''Mgiarro'', is a village in the Northern Region of Malta. Mġarr is a rural village, isolated from nearby towns and cities. Mġarr lies west of Mosta and is surrounded by farmland and vineyards. Many of the 4,840 ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. It was completed in 1637 as the second of the

Lascaris towers The Lascaris Towers () are a series of mostly small coastal watchtowers built in Malta by the Order of Saint John between 1637 and 1652. The first seven towers were built around the coast of mainland Malta in 1637 and 1638. Between 1647 and 165 ...

. The tower is mostly intact although it is threatened by coastal erosion and was damaged during a storm in 2023.

History

Għajn Tuffieħa Tower was built in 1637 on the cliffs overlooking Għajn Tuffieħa Bay close to

Mellieħa Mellieħa ( ) is a large village in the Northern Region of Malta. It has a population of 10,087 as of March 2014. Mellieħa is also a tourist resort, popular for its sandy beaches, natural environment, and Popeye Village nearby. Etymology The n ...

and

on the northwest coast of Malta. The tower has Lippija and Nadur Towers in its line of sight. The tower was designed by the Italian architect Vincenzo Maculani. It is almost identical to Lippija Tower, having a square plan and two floors topped by a flat roof with a parapet. Each floor has a single room, and access to the upper floor was originally by a wooden ladder. Għajn Tuffieħa Tower was built on the site of a medieval watch post. It was originally armed with a ½-pounder gun, and its garrison consisted of a captain and three men, who were paid by the Università, the government officials in charge of Malta at the time.

Present day

Malta - Mgarr - Triq Ghajn Tuffieha - Ghajn Tuffieha Tower 08 ies

The tower was in poor condition until it was restored in 2000 with the support of the Director of Public Projects and

Din l-Art Ħelwa () is a non-governmental and non-profit, voluntary organisation founded in 1965 by Maltese Judge Maurice Caruana Curran to safeguard Malta's cultural heritage and natural environment. Since its foundation, Din l-Art Ħelwa has restored numerous ...

. In 2012, vandals sprayed graffiti on two sides of the tower; this has since been removed. The tower continued to be renovated by the Gaia Foundation, and it opened to the public in 2013 as part of a peace grove containing over 20 species of indigenous plants. The Gaia Foundation is reportedly no longer active, and as of 2023 there is no entity responsible for the tower's upkeep. The tower is threatened by

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of Wind wave, waves, Ocean current, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts ...

, and cracks can be seen on the cliffs upon which the tower is built. The terrain may be dangerous for walkers, as some people have lost their life on the rocks in the immediate vicinity of the tower. During the night of 9–10 February 2023, the tower was damaged during Cyclone Helios. Some of its masonry collapsed amidst gale-force winds and heavy rain, leaving a hole within the tower's upper section.

References

External links

National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghajn Tuffieha Tower 1637 establishments in Malta Lascaris towers Mġarr National Inventory of the Cultural Property of the Maltese Islands Towers completed in 1637