page_title: Genoese towers in Corsica
section_title: Function
hierarchical_section_title: Genoese towers in Corsica / Function
context_page_description: The Genoese towers in Corsica are a series of coastal defences constructed by the Republic of Genoa between 1530 and 1620 to stem the attacks by Barbary pirates.
  Corsica had been controlled by the Genoese since 1284 when they established their supremacy over the Pisans in the naval Battle of Meloria. Towards the end of the 15th century the Ottoman Turks expanded their control of the Mediterranean westwards and became a dominant maritime power in the region. In 1480 they sacked Otranto in southern Italy and in 1516 they took control of Algiers. In the first decades of the 16th century Turkish corsairs in galleys and fustas often rowed by Christian slaves began attacking villages around the Corsican coastline. Many hundreds of villagers were captured and taken away to be sold as slaves. The Genoese Republic responded by building a series of towers around the coastline. Most were built to a similar circular design with a roof terrace protected by machicolations. Nearly one hundred were constructed before the Genoese decided in around 1620 that they were unable to defend the island and abandoned the building program.
context_section_description: The garrison of a tower consisted of between two and six men (Corsican: torregiani), recruited among the inhabitants and paid from the local taxes. These guards were to reside permanently in the tower. They could move away no more than two days, for the supply and the pay, and one by one. They ensured the lookout with regular fires and signals: every morning and evening they assembled on the platform, informed navigators, shepherds and ploughmen about safety, communicating by fires with the closest towers located in their sight, and supervised the arrival of possible pirates.
  In the event of alarm, a signal was given on the terrace at the top of the tower, in the form of smoke, fire or the sound of culombu (a large conch), warning the surroundings of the approach of hostile ships. It was followed by the general withdrawal of the people and animals in the interior of the country. The two closest towers in sight were ignited and so on, which made it possible to put the entire island in alarm in a few hours.
  Certain garrisons had to be defended against the invaders, and combatants’ remains were found at their bases. Thus, the famous Torra di l'Osse took its name from the bones buried along its walls.
  The towers were always insufficiently armed. They were used mainly as customs stations and daymarks. The torregiani often neglected their military role, to concentrate on the control of the maritime trade and the perception of various taxes. They were also trading wood and cultivating in the surrounding lands.
  Although unjustified absence of a guard was prohibited under penalty of galley as well as the replacement by a person other than the titular guards, as times went by, some towers were deserted. They deteriorated, fell in ruins, or were destroyed for lack of defence.
caption: Torra di Capiteddu: detail showing the machicolations
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