Malta · 17th century
Wignacourt Tower (Maltese: Torri ta' Wignacourt), also known as Saint Paul's Bay Tower (Maltese: 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 stone was laid on 10 February 1610. It replaced the role of Ta' Tabibu farmhouse which was previously known as Dejma Tower. An artillery battery was added a century later in 1715. Today the tower is a museum of fortifications around the Maltese Islands.
Wignacourt Tower was the second tower to be built in the Maltese islands, after Garzes Tower on Gozo. It was the first tower to be built on the main island. As Garzes Tower was demolished in 1848, Wignacourt Tower is now the oldest surviving watchtower in Malta.
Text adapted from “Wignacourt Tower” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Wignacourt Tower ranks #4,845 of 9,035 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #25 of the 39 mapped in Malta. Founded 1610, it is older than 29% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 708 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. 38 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Malta compares in the castle statistics.
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