The Tower of Castelluchju (Corsican: Torra di Castelluchju) is a ruined Genoese tower located in the commune of Ajaccio (Corse-du-Sud) off the west coast of the Corsica. The tower sits on the southern end of the Grande Sanguinaire, the largest island in the Îles Sanguinaires archipelago.
| Tower of Castelluchju | |
|---|---|
| Native name Torra di Castelluchju (Corsican) | |
  Location of Tower of Castelluchju in Corsica | |
| Coordinates | 41°52′32″N 8°35′16″E / 41.87556°N 8.58778°E |
| Built | before 1597 |
The tower was one of a series of coastal defences built by the Republic of Genoa between 1530 and 1620 to stem the attacks by Barbary pirates.[1] The exact year when the tower was built is not known,[2] but it is mentioned in a report written in 1597 for the Genoese authorities by the engineer Britio Tramallo and the lawyer Gieronimo Bonaparte. The report gives the dimensions of three structures on the island: a chapel, a round tower and the surviving small square tower. The small tower (la torretta piccola) now known as the Tour de Castelluccio, is recorded as being 5.6 m (18 ft) in height with walls 0.63 m (2.1 ft) thick at the base reducing to 0.31 m (1.0 ft) at the top. The large round tower was 6 m (20 ft) in height and 7.75 m (25.4 ft) in diameter.[3] It sat on the highest point of the Grande Sanguinaire island but was demolished in the 19th century when the existing lighthouse was constructed.[4] In Genoese documents the large round tower was referred to as the Sanguinare di Fuori or the Sanguinare di Mare while the Tour de la Parata was the Sanguinare di Terra.[5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Graziani 2000, pp. 73–144.
- ^ Graziani 2000, p. 140.
- ^ Graziani 1992, p. 85.
- ^ Cubells 2007, p. 73.
- ^ Graziani 1992, pp. 84–85, 135.
Sources
edit- Cubells, Jean-François; et al. (2007). Un site, des monuments La Parata et Les Sanguinaires: Pour une étude pluridisciplinaire du patrimoine historique et naturel de la Corse (PDF) (in French). La Ville d’Ajaccio et le Conseil Général de la Corse-du-Sud. p. 73. ISBN 978-286-620-201-9.
- Graziani, Antoine-Marie (1992). Les Tours Littorales (in French and Italian). Ajaccio, France: Alain Piazzola. pp. 84–85, 135. ISBN 2-907161-06-7.
- Graziani, Antoine-Marie (2000). "Les ouvrages de défense en Corse contre les Turcs (1530-1650)". In Vergé-Franceschi, Michel; Graziani, Antoine-Marie (eds.). La guerre de course en Méditerranée (1515-1830) (in French). Paris: Presses de l'Université Paris IV-Sorbonne. pp. 73–144. ISBN 2-84050-167-8.
External links
edit- Nivaggioni, Mathieu; Verges, Jean-Marie. "Les Tours Génoises Corses" (in French). Includes information on how to reach 90 towers and many photographs.
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