Tal-Wejter Tower

Tal-Wejter Tower
Torri tal-Wejter
Birkirkara, Malta

View of Tal-Wejter Tower
Coordinates 35°53′49.8″N 14°28′1.9″E / 35.897167°N 14.467194°E / 35.897167; 14.467194
Type Tower
Site information
Open to
the public		 No
Condition Derelict
Site history
Built Late 17th or early 18th century
Built by Order of Saint John
Materials Limestone

Tal-Wejter Tower (Maltese: Torri tal-Wejter) is a tower in Birkirkara, Malta, which was built in the 17th or 18th centuries by the Order of Saint John. The tower still exists, but it is in a rather dilapidated state.

History

Tal-Wejter Tower was commissioned by Grand Master Ramon Perellos y Roccaful, and it was built either in the late 17th or early 18th century. The tower stood on the road leading from San Ġwann and St. Julian's to Birkirkara. This area is now built up and the tower is surrounded by modern buildings.[1]

Part of the tower was illegally demolished in 1968, but it was later rebuilt. Today, the tower is still intact but it is deteriorating and it is feared that it might collapse.[2] The structure was scheduled as a Grade 2 national monument by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority in 2012.[3][4]

Architecture

Tal-Wejter Tower is a two-story high tower with a rectangular plan. Its two floors are separated by a moulded string course, and the roof has a high parapet wall. Each façade of the tower originally had box machicolations. The entrance to the tower is through an arched doorway built in the medieval style.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Tal-Wejter Tower". Times of Malta. 23 February 2012. Archived from the original on 1 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Azzopardi, Silvio (1 October 2008). "Two Historical gems that could be no more...". The Malta Independent. Archived from the original on 17 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "Protection granted to a further 29 buildings and sites". MEPA. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014.
  4. ↑ "Mepa schedules a range of properties". Times of Malta. 31 January 2012. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015.
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