Description of the attraction
The Vignazza Tower is a 16th century guard tower located in the town of Giardini Naxos in Sicily. It is a three-storey square structure. The tower was built in 1544 to oversee Cape Kapo Schizo and the southern coast of the port of the same name, also known as Al Qusus, - during that era, Berber pirates led by Khair ad-Din Barbarossa raided these places, raiding fishing villages and drove their inhabitants into slavery. When the guards noticed the approach of an enemy ship, they gave an alarm signal, which allowed the population of the surrounding villages to take cover or prepare for an attack. In addition, the signal from Vignazza was visible in the castle of Castello San Marco in the town of Calatabiano.
Many similar structures were built along the coast of Sicily, which protected the inhabitants from raids by pirates from Tripoli, Tunisia and Algeria. In the vicinity of Giardini Naxos, in addition to the Vignazza tower, for military purposes, an observation tower was also erected near the Castello Schiso castle and a small line of fortifications, now included in the local Archaeological Museum. An interesting fact: the pirate raids in the Mediterranean Sea finally stopped only in the first half of the 19th century, when Algeria was colonized by France.
The Vignazza Tower is located in Recanati, which is not directly within the territory of Giardini Naxos. There is an archaeological park next to it, which is often visited by tourists. And in the tower itself, themed exhibitions and various performances are sometimes arranged.
