Torra di Portu (Porto, Corsica)
Tour de Porto
Interesting facts
- Begun around 1551, it is counted among the earliest Genoese towers built on Corsica's west coast.
- Nearly a hundred such towers were raised around Corsica between 1530 and 1620; an inventory of 1617 listed 86 of them.
- Their guards, the torregiani, were two to six local men paid from local taxes, allowed to leave for at most two days, one at a time.
- Besides smoke and fire, the alarm from a tower's terrace could be sounded on the culombu, a large conch shell blown like a horn.
- Genoese towers were usually entered by a first-floor doorway reached by a removable wooden ladder, with a rainwater cistern below.
Why it is worth it
The tower of Porto stands on a knuckle of granite at the head of one of the most dramatic gulfs in the Mediterranean. Below it the Porto river meets the sea at a small marina; around it the coast of western Corsica breaks into orange-red porphyry cliffs and headlands that rise to hundreds of metres. The Gulf of Porto — with the Calanche of Piana, the Gulf of Girolata and the Scandola reserve — was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1983, and the tower is the one human structure that sits right at the centre of that scene.
It belongs to the chain of watchtowers the Republic of Genoa raised around Corsica in the 16th century against Barbary raiders, each within sight of its neighbours so that a fire or smoke signal could run along the coast and warn villages inland. Sources put its construction around the middle of the century — 1549 and 1551 are both given. Unlike most of the island's Genoese towers, which are round, this one is square, closer in feel to a small keep: roughly 14 metres a side at the base and about 10 at the top, set on a rock some 45 metres above sea level so that it commands the whole bay.
The tower was classified as a historic monument in 1946 and restored in 1993 to open it to visitors. A short path cut into the granite leads up from the marina; inside there is a permanent exhibition on the Genoese towers of Corsica and a small museum devoted to heather, and stairs climb to the terrace, which gives a full circle view over the gulf, the lower village and the mountains behind. The best reason to go up is the colour: late in the day the red rock of the gulf seems to glow, and the square silhouette of the tower against it is one of the classic images of the island.
Getting there
The tower rises above the marina of Porto, in the commune of Ota on the west coast of Corsica. Ajaccio is about 39 km away in a straight line, farther by road. The nearest airport is Calvi Sainte-Catherine (CLY), about 30 km away as the crow flies. From the marina the path up to the tower takes a few minutes on foot.
Plan your visit
We have no confirmed visit data yet. Once it is confirmed, this block also carries the date it was checked.
Nearby places
- Calanche de Piana 8.2 km · rock-formation
- Scandola Nature Reserve 14.3 km · nature-reserve
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
The Tower of Portu is a ruined Genoese tower located in the commune of Ota (Corse-du-Sud) on the west coast of the Corsica. The tower sits on a rocky outcrop at a height of 45 metres (148 ft) in the Gulf of Porto.
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