Ligny Tower

Ligny Tower
Torre di Ligny
Trapani, Sicily, Italy

View of Ligny Tower
Coordinates 38°1′10.7″N 12°29′49″E / 38.019639°N 12.49694°E / 38.019639; 12.49694
Type Coastal watchtower
Site information
Controlled by Museo civico Torre di Ligny
Open to
the public		 Yes
Condition Intact
Site history
Built 1671–1672
Built by Kingdom of Sicily
In use 1672–1862
1940s

Ligny Tower (Italian: Torre di Ligny, Sicilian: Turrignì) is a coastal watchtower in Trapani, Sicily. It was built between 1671 and 1672 at a strategic position on the city's western coast. Today, the tower is in good condition, and it is open to the public as an archaeological museum.

History

Ligny Tower was built on a narrow strip of land on Trapani's western coast, to defend the city from attacks by the Barbary corsairs. It was named after the Viceroy of Sicily, Claude Lamoral, 3rd Prince of Ligne, who had ordered its construction. The tower was designed by the Flemish architect Carlos de Grunenbergh. It has a square base with scarped walls, with four corner turrets which originally contained lanterns.[1]

The tower was proposed in a meeting held at Palermo on 11 January 1670. Construction began in 1671, and it was inaugurated in October 1672.[2]

A passage connecting the tower with the mainland was built in 1806, and guns were installed on the tower's roof until 1862. It was subsequently used as a semaphore station, but it was eventually abandoned.[3]

In World War II, the tower was used by the Regia Marina and was armed with anti-aircraft guns.[2]

Present day

The tower was restored in 1979 by the architect Francesco Terranova. Since 1983, the tower has been an archaeological museum, known as Museo civico Torre di Ligny.[1]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ligny Tower.
  1. 1 2 "Museo civico Torre di Ligny". Comune di Trapani (in Italian). Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  2. 1 2 Virzì, Giovanni. "Torre di Ligny". tuttasostanza.it (in Italian). Archived from the original on 27 April 2006.
  3. ↑ "Ligny Tower". Turismo Trapani. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
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