Cabrera Tower in Pozzallo
Torre Cabrera in Pozzallo is an imposing coastal defense tower that played an important military role for the sighting of pirate sailing ships.
It was built in the 15th century to defend the magazine, i.e. a complex of warehouses with piers and slides for the loading of goods on sailing ships, which soon became the second most important in Sicily at the time. The magazine was built at the behest of Manfredi Chiaramonte, Count of Modica and, in its defense, the Cabrera Tower was built, at the request of Count Giovanni Bernardo Cabrera.
The tower has an imposing structure with a square plan, and is made up of two floors and a basement. The original structure, consisting of a simple parallelepiped, was built on a stretch of rocks, and was surrounded by the sea on three sides. The fourth side featured an access pier. The Tower was surrounded by a wall, on which a stone staircase was built that connected the small internal cloister to a door on the first floor. In 1693, following the earthquake in the Val di Noto, the tower was almost entirely razed to the ground but was rebuilt in a short time due to continuous pirate attacks. During the reconstruction, the bastion overlooking the sea was added to the original project, which had a defensive and support function for the structure. On the terraces of the tower several cannons were lined up, inside there was a deep well connected to the sea where the pirates were thrown, with their hands and feet tied, who died by drowning when the high tide arrived. Inside there are several rooms with cross vaults: in those used as the residence of the castellan, or of the passing Count himself, you can still see the sculpted coats of arms depicting the coat of arms of the noble Catalan Cabrera family.
