Ligny Tower, Trapani, Italy

Ligny Tower is a coastal watchtower 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.

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.

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.

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

References:

Wikipedia

Castles and fortifications in Italy

User Reviews

michalakadam88 (5 years ago)
Great place to see the sunset!

Melania Brand (6 years ago)
Beautiful view. Can enjoy reading and meditation here.

Ondřej Novák (6 years ago)
Very beautiful place, great view, the place where Tyrrhenian and Mediterranean seas meet. The museum part is small, interesting and during our visit (July 2019) uncomplete. Interesting info: There are local wedding sometimes. Also, local children had been using the rocks behind the tower for testing their courage by jumping to the distant ones (wedding witnessed, the other thing told us our local host).

Asbjørn Bordoy (6 years ago)
The museum was closed, but It was very nice walk with a nice view.

Antonio Fiorino (6 years ago)
Fantastic Place. However on Sunday It should have been open but we found It closed. So we did not visit the Museum. Really a shame.

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Photo from Flickr, copyright w_lemay

Historic Site of the week

Temple of Edfu

The Temple of Edfu is one of the best preserved ancient shrines in Egypt. It was built in the Ptolemaic Kingdom between 237 and 57 BC.

Edfu was one of several temples built during the Ptolemaic Kingdom, including the Dendera Temple complex, Esna, the Temple of Kom Ombo, and Philae. Its size reflects the relative prosperity of the time. The present temple initially consisted of a pillared hall, two transverse halls, and a barque sanctuary surrounded by chapels. The building was started during the reign of Ptolemy III Euergetes and completed in 57 BC under Ptolemy XII Auletes. It was built on the site of an earlier, smaller temple also dedicated to Horus, although the previous structure was oriented east–west rather than north–south as in the present site.

Ligny Tower

Address

Details

More Information

Rating

Interesting Sites Nearby

User Reviews

Featured Historic Landmarks, Sites & Buildings

Finest Norman castles in Italy

Exploring the History of Northern Poland

Discovering Slovenia's Historic Wonders

Historic Site of the week

Temple of Edfu