Wignacourt Tower at St Paul’s Bay is the oldest coastal watchtower still standing in Malta.
It was finished in 1610, on the feast of St Paul, and it started the chain that eventually ringed the islands.
The first of them
Grand Master Alof de Wignacourt paid for it out of his own pocket.
Five more followed in the same style. Later Grand Masters carried on until the coast was watched end to end.
The De Redin towers of 1658 finished the job with thirteen smaller ones.
The design here is plain and square with a small turret on top. It looks heavy because it was built to survive being shot at.
What it was watching for
Raiders. A tower spotted a sail, lit a fire, and the next tower along passed it on.
A warning could cross the island faster than a rider could carry it, which gave the villages time to get behind walls.
The garrison was small, four or five men, with a cannon on the roof. Water was stored below for a siege of days rather than weeks.
St Paul’s Bay was worth watching because it is a wide, shallow landing place with a village behind it.
Going inside
It sits on the seafront at St Paul’s Bay, on the main road, so you can walk to it from the bus stop.
Din l-Art Ħelwa look after it and it opens on the first Sunday of the month among other times.
Entry costs a couple of euro and takes twenty minutes. There is a small display inside on how the signal chain worked.
Current hours are on the tower’s own page, because volunteers open it and the times move.
Do several towers in one day
The White Tower at Armier and the Red Tower above Mellieħa are both a short drive north.
Most of the towers open on the same Sunday, which makes a three-tower morning straightforward.
The Red Tower has the best view of the three, looking across to Comino and Gozo.
While you are there
The tower sits at the quiet end of the St Paul’s Bay front, away from the Buġibba side.
The rock shelves either side are used for swimming all summer and there are ladders into the water.
Parking on the front is white bay and free, but it fills from mid-morning.
