Fort San Lucian, Marsaxlokk, Malta

Fort San Lucian is a large bastioned watchtower and polygonal fort in Marsaxlokk, Malta. The original tower was built by the Order of Saint John between 1610 and 1611, being the second of six Wignacourt towers. An artillery battery was added in around 1715, and the complex was upgraded into a fort in the 1790s. In the 1870s, the fort was rebuilt by the British in the polygonal style.

Saint Lucian Tower is the second largest watchtower in Malta, after Saint Thomas Tower. Today, the tower and fort are used by the Malta Aquaculture Research Centre.

References:

Wikipedia

Castles and fortifications in Malta

User Reviews

Peter Busuttil (2 years ago)
Great place

Anton Zhatkin (2 years ago)
Was closed but outside was cute.

Lisa Galea (3 years ago)
Very interesting walking around it. Unfortunately it was closed but i heard they open it on certain days

Shain MaTe (3 years ago)
The view of The St.Lucians Tower when you walk around it is unique but as it lies within a harbourbay that view goes out to the container ships and cranes. The tower lies a dozend meters above sea level and dry bushes as well as some Oleander bushes surrounding it. Its not a spectacular place but if you want to make a morning run from birzebugga to Marsaslox - its a lovely run along the promenade, a relatively empty connecting street and a path around the tower.

Andy Bugeja (3 years ago)
Also know as the white tower since the knights in this tower all had white hourses and also last fortification to surrender to invading nopolionic army. Shame it's used for fisheries directory and certain conventions have been done over years. Would be great if opened to the public and restored to it's glory

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Honza Soukup

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Angelokastro

Angelokastro is a Byzantine castle on the island of Corfu. It is located at the top of the highest peak of the island"s shoreline in the northwest coast near Palaiokastritsa and built on particularly precipitous and rocky terrain. It stands 305 m on a steep cliff above the sea and surveys the City of Corfu and the mountains of mainland Greece to the southeast and a wide area of Corfu toward the northeast and northwest.

Angelokastro is one of the most important fortified complexes of Corfu. It was an acropolis which surveyed the region all the way to the southern Adriatic and presented a formidable strategic vantage point to the occupant of the castle.

Angelokastro formed a defensive triangle with the castles of Gardiki and Kassiopi, which covered Corfu"s defences to the south, northwest and northeast.

The castle never fell, despite frequent sieges and attempts at conquering it through the centuries, and played a decisive role in defending the island against pirate incursions and during three sieges of Corfu by the Ottomans, significantly contributing to their defeat.

During invasions it helped shelter the local peasant population. The villagers also fought against the invaders playing an active role in the defence of the castle.

The exact period of the building of the castle is not known, but it has often been attributed to the reigns of Michael I Komnenos and his son Michael II Komnenos. The first documentary evidence for the fortress dates to 1272, when Giordano di San Felice took possession of it for Charles of Anjou, who had seized Corfu from Manfred, King of Sicily in 1267.

From 1387 to the end of the 16th century, Angelokastro was the official capital of Corfu and the seat of the Provveditore Generale del Levante, governor of the Ionian islands and commander of the Venetian fleet, which was stationed in Corfu.

The governor of the castle (the castellan) was normally appointed by the City council of Corfu and was chosen amongst the noblemen of the island.

Angelokastro is considered one of the most imposing architectural remains in the Ionian Islands.

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