The channel view
Gozo and Comino across the water, Sicily on clear days.
Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK — CC BY 2.0 · Reworked version by Regi51; photo by Felix König — CC BY 3.0 · Felix König — CC BY 3.0 · Frank Vincentz — CC BY-SA 3.0
A chain of some thirty towers the Knights built in the seventeenth century around the islands' coasts, each in sight of its neighbours so a signal of fire or smoke could pass from the island's end to Valletta in minutes — a complete early-warning system four centuries ago.
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A red box on the highest ridge in northern Malta: Grand Master Lascaris built it in 1649 as a forward fort watching the channel between Malta and Gozo and guarding the road to it — painted red to be seen from far off and to signal from, in a chain of watchtowers that could reach Valletta in minutes. It is a square with four corner turrets, walls four metres thick and a gun roof, and inside it remains plain and severe — garrison rooms, a store and a water cistern. The British used it as an observation post in the Second World War, the Maltese army until recently, and a volunteer society restored it and runs it today. The view is the real reason to climb: Gozo and Comino before you across the channel, Mellieħa bay and its red sand below, and Sicily on a clear day. Around it lies the Marfa reserve with walking paths and the ruins of other towers — and the sunset from here rivals Dingli's.
Gozo and Comino across the water, Sicily on clear days.
Walking paths and other tower ruins around it.
Marfa Ridge, Mellieħa