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Tower of Sant Joan

Amposta, Montsià, Tarragona

1 Villages · 8 Monuments · 2 Activities · 1 Historical milestones

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Tower of Sant Joan

Monument · Amposta, Montsià, Tarragona

Old defence tower at Poblenou del Delta, in the municipality of Amposta, built in 1576 by order of Philip II to protect the port of the Alfacs from Saracen piracy, as part of the Torres dels Alfacs, of which only this one and the Codonyol tower were ever built. It operated for about 250 years, with a garrison of about a dozen soldiers, including a captain and a chaplain, and lived through episodes of the Guerra dels Segadors and the Guerra del Francés, in which it was probably destroyed. Between March and May 1938 it served as a shelter for families from Sant Carles de la Ràpita fleeing the front of the Civil War. Changes to the coastline have left it about fifty metres out into the sea, in the shallow waters of the Ebro Delta, and only its lower, truncated-pyramid part survives.

Photo: Manel Zaera (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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