Tour d'Omigna

Tour d'Omigna
Coordinates 42°8′47″N 8°33′36″E / 42.14639°N 8.56000°ECoordinates: 42°8′47″N 8°33′36″E / 42.14639°N 8.56000°E
Built 1605–1606
Restored 2009
Architect Giacomo della Piana
Designated 8 March 1991
Reference no. PA00099136
Location of Tour d'Omigna in Corsica

The Tour d'Omigna (Corsican: Torra d'Omigna) is a ruined Genoese tower located in the commune of Cargèse on the French island of Corsica.

The tower was built between 1605 and 1606 under the direction of Giacomo della Piana. It was one of a series of coastal defences built by the Republic of Genoa between 1530 and 1620 to stem the attacks by Barbary pirates.[1][2] In 1991 it was listed as one of the official Historical Monuments of France.[3]

Since 1977 the tower has been owned by a French government agency, the Conservatoire du littoral. The agency plans to purchase 212 ha (520 acres) of the headland and of 2011 had acquired 121 ha (300 acres).[4] The tower was restored in 2009 and visitors can climb up onto the roof terrace.[5]

Drawings from the Genoese archives dating from the time of the tower's construction.

Notes and references

  1. ↑ "Canton: Les Deux-Servi - L'architecture militaire" (in French). Direction Régional des Affaires Culturelles de Corse (DRAC). Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  2. ↑ Graziani, Antoine-Marie (2000). "Les ouvrages de défense en Corse contre les Turcs (1530-1650)". In Vergé-Franceschi, Michel; Graziani, Antoine-Marie. La guerre de course en Méditerranée (1515-1830) (in French). Paris: Presses de l'Université Paris IV-Sorbonne. pp. 143–144. ISBN 2-84050-167-8.
  3. ↑ "Tour d'Omigna" (in French). Ministère de la culture. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "Tour Genoise d’Omignia". Catalogue monuments historiques (PDF) (Report) (in French). Conservatoire du littoral, Ministère de l'écologie, du développement durable et de l'énergie, République Française. July 2011. p. 45. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  5. ↑ Marchés de travaux (PDF) (in French), Conservatoire du littoral, retrieved 4 May 2014