Garzes Tower

Garzes Tower
Torri Garzes
Mġarr, Gozo
Map of Mġarr Harbour in the mid-18th century, showing Garzes Tower, Mġarr Battery and a proposed bastioned enceinte and redoubt that were never built
Coordinates	36°1′37.7″N 14°17′51.7″E / 36.027139°N 14.297694°E / 36.027139; 14.297694
Type	Coastal watchtower
Site history
Built	1605–1607
Built by	Order of Saint John
Materials	Limestone
Fate	Demolished, 1848

Garzes Tower (Maltese: Torri Garzes), also known as Saint Martin's Tower (Maltese: Torri ta' San Martin),Torre Garzes and Torre della Garza, was a watchtower built in Mġarr, Gozo by the Order of Saint John in 1605. It was named after Martin Garzez, the Grand Master who financed its construction, even though it was eventually built after his death during the Magistry of Alof de Wignacourt. The tower was demolished in the 19th century, some remains were reused for the building of a bridge, and the site was developed with a hotel.

It was built to the design of Vittorio Cassar. A number a coastal towers, built by Grandmaster Wignacourt, are traditionally attributed to Cassar and based on the Garzes tower. However this is probably based on speculations It is likely that Cassar's design of Garzes Tower was used, and adequately modified, to built the other towers due to their similarity in their military architecture.

In the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, Gozo was prone to attacks by Barbary corsairs, along with most of Malta and other coastal areas in the Mediterranean and Europe. The harbour of Mġarr was commonly used by pirates to replenish with water and plunder the surrounding area. The worst attack occurred in July 1551, when Ottoman forces aided by corsairs tried to take over Malta but failed so they landed in Gozo, besieged the Cittadela and took almost the entire population of about 5000 to 6000 people as slaves (with the exception of a monk, some 40 elderly Gozitans and about 300 who managed to escape and hide). The slaves were taken aboard Ottoman ships from Mġarr Harbour itself.

Before this attack, there had already been proposals to build a tower to guard Mġarr Harbour and the Gozo Channel. In 1418, the people made a petition to build such a tower but nothing materialized. In 1599, a report was made about the defence of Gozo, and the military engineer Giovanni Rinaldini made it clear that a tower was necessary in that area to prevent any future attacks. The Grand Master at that time, Martin Garzez, realized this so he decided to finance the building of a tower himself. He allocated 12,000 scudi for the building of the tower, but he died in 1601 before construction even began.