Red Ahead
St Agatha’s Tower, also known as the Red Tower was built in 1649 and was manned during both World Wars.
When Grand Master Jean Paul Lascaris Castellar commissioned a defensive tower for the North of Malta in the late 1640s, he was thinking about the imminent threat from Turkish Ottoman invaders. Not a man to do things by half, he constructed the Red Tower, an edifice so solid that not only did it see off the Ottoman danger, but 350 years and many wars later, it still stands sentinel over Mellieħa Bay. The project wasn’t universally popular. Other Grand Masters from the Knights of St. John had funded tower building themselves, but Lascaris, a Frenchman, levied taxes on the Maltese to pay for the Red Tower despite the spectre of famine hanging over the country.
Interestingly the expression ‘wiċċ Laskri’ is still used to describe a person with a sour expression to this day. He also banned women from taking part in carnivals, which didn’t improve his rating amongst the locals. Nonetheless, during his long reign he managed to impose military order in Malta, and that, combined with his towers, helped the Knights and the local people to fight off invaders. The Grand Master picked a great location for his Tower, high on the Marfa Ridge in the north-west of Malta. From there, the four cannons could reach the natural harbour of Mellieħa Bay; that was important because Għadira Beach was the perfect landing spot for novice invaders.
In addition, the tower has unobstructed views all the way to Comino and Gozo, then back along the line of towers that run to the Grand Master’s Palace in Valletta. In the event of an attack, cannons would be fired or warning fires would be lit on the roofs of the towers. The Red Tower became the key stronghold in the North and author Stanley Farrugia says that the Knights manned it, during time of high alert, with around “30 men and enough ammunition and supplies to withstand a siege of 40 days” from the Turks, pirates or the Barbary Corsairs from North Africa, who had previously stolen crops and water as well as people. 400 extra muskets were also kept in reserve for the Tower.
The color of the tower is something of a mystery. Historian Stephen Degiorgio doubts that the Tower was ever painted red when first built. Instead, he suggests that when the government leased the tower to Lord Farrington in 1956, he gave it a coat of red-wash to match its name (old maps show it as La Torre Rossa — Torri L-Aħmar in Maltese — perhaps due to the reddish soil in the area). Whatever the truth, keeping it red is now quite a challenge as the colour fades quickly in the hot Maltese sun.
The Tower’s alternative name, Torri ta’ Sant’Agata, comes from a chapel dedicated to this long-suffering saint who was born in nearby Catania. A plaque to her says, “To those who wage war, I the Martyr Agatha, with breasts removed stand here. A fearless Tower faithful and a threat to my enemies well known throughout the world. Under the auspices of GM PauI Lascaris Castellar, Fra Balthassaris de Mandolx and the jurats of the commune Vincentio Casteletta, Gregorio Mamo and Marco Cassar in the year 1649". Agatha was tortured and imprisoned by the Roman Prefect Quintianus after she spurned his affections.
The Tower had various defensive features. Where the stairs are now, there used to be a drawbridge over a dry moat. There are four corner towers with ports in the turrets for cannons which, along with the Comino Tower, could cover Mellieħa Bay. The walls were built to withstand attack and are 4m thick with small windows. The corner turrets have interesting fishtail crenellations. The Red Tower was the sixth, largest Lascaris Tower and the final large bastioned tower to be built in Malta. The others included Ta’ Lippija (Ġnejna Bay), Għajn Tuffieħa Tower, Ta’ Xutu Tower (Wied iż-Żurrieq) and Nadur Tower.
Water was always an issue in a siege as well as during everyday use so the tower has a cistern under it fed by pipes from the roof; in the time of the Knights, it was accessible via a floor slab inside the room. The Tower is surrounded by an 18th Century ‘redan trace’ — star shaped walls which offer additional defence. The Tower must have acted as a good deterrent as neither the Turks nor the Corsairs ever attacked it whilst the knights were in power.
However, in 1798, under the command of French Knight, St Simon, it did surrender to the Napoleonic army. Three months later, a band of Maltese insurgents retook the Tower. It remained a critical part of Malta’s defense through two 20th Century World Wars, acting as HQ for E Company, 1st Battalion of the King’s Own Malta Regiment in WW2. Germany and her allies had drawn up detailed plans for the invasion of Malta and although these never came to pass, the island was prepared. The base for a WW2 machine gun remains in at the window in the inner vault and iron rungs were provided for soldiers to climb to the roof as the stone staircase had collapsed. After the war, the tower became a radar station for the Armed Forces of Malta. After so many years of service, it now stands quietly over the beautiful BirdLife Malta Għadira Nature Reserve.
In 2000, local NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa began a much needed restoration project of the tower. With funding from M. Demajo Group, Playmobil and Toly Products, they fixed the destroyed or damaged turrets, uncovering the original floor, rebuilding the roof and walls, and constructing the spiral staircase. In 2014, they installed two genuine 17th century cannon. The tower is open to the public (see dinlarthelwa.org for opening times). It’s a wonderful, atmospheric place for children to play make-believe in. For adults, the roof has a sublime view over Malta, Gozo and Comino where you can imagine warning beacons burning in an urgent chain from Gozo all the way to Valletta as invaders sail into the bay.
