South Italy Castles and Coastal Towers

The History of Coastal Towers goes hand in hand the political and military evolution of the Kingdom of Naples. Fortifications were built in Southern Italy over and eight-hundred-year period from the 9^th to the 17^th centuries. The original towers were cylindrical in shape, tall and with small windows. Their main function was to sound the alarm when pirate ships were sighted through the lightning of fires, allowing the local population to find shelter into the hills and grottoes inland from the coast.

Increased Raids during the 16^th Century led to Development of More Complex Coastal Defenses

Naples Viceroy Don Pedro of Toledo ordered the construction of massive, square-shaped towers with thicker external walls. The transition from circular-shaped towers to square-shaped ones was spurred by the introduction of artillery requiring fortifications whose functions now included sighting, signaling, shelter as well as the use of offensive weapons that could hit a ship approaching the coast.

Communications were carried out through a series of visual signals - smoke in the daytime, fires by night as well as acoustic signals such as bells, or shots from a cannon or arquebus, a precursor of the rifle. When a pirate ship was sighted from one tower, one of these signals would be used to warn the people of the area to prepare to fight or flee. The signal would be passed from tower to tower, up and down the coast, passing the word quickly and effectively. The ground level floor had no windows and was set directly above a large cistern to guarantee a constant water supply. This space was used to store food and munitions and also contained a millstone for grinding wheat, making the tower self-sufficient.

Saracen Towers can be viewed along the Southern Italian coastline from Gaeta to the Sorrento peninsula, the Amalfi and Cilento coasts. There are over 350 towers, including 30 along the coastal strip from Vietri sul Mare to Positano. Some have been restored and incorporated into modern buildings in small harbors such as San Marco, Pisciotta and Marina di Camerota. Further south, around Cape Infreschi just before reaching Scario, there are cliffs along the coast unreachable by road; here the original coastal towers stand just a few hundred yards apart.

The Term Saracen has shifted over time. Ptolemy's Geography from the second century mentions Sarakene as a region in the northern Sinai Peninsula and refers to a people called the Sarakenoi. For Italians during the middle ages it meant Muslim invader, from the Arabs who rode the initial wave of Islamic expansion into Spain and Sicily in the 8^th and 9^thcenturies to the Ottoman Turks who took Constantinople in the 15^th century.

Coastal Watchtowers were also as a point of reference for friendly ships. The towers were generally manned by a military team of four guards and a horseman, who often remained outside the tower ready to ride into town to carry a warning as soon as possible.

Historic Train Rides in Italy

Campania and Sicily Itineraries in Original Locomotives and Railway Carriages

Travel aboard the original Centoporte and Corbellini carriages, which date back to the 1930s and 1950s, to visit some of the historic cultural and culinary sites in Campania region of Italy .

Pietrarsa runs from Naples to Portici along Italy’s first railway track. Inaugurated on October 3, 1839 by King Ferdinand II whose goal was to make his kingdom compete with the technological supremacy of England and France. The workshop was initially used to produce mechanical and pyrotechnical materials for the Navy, but later went on to build and repair locomotives and railway carriages. The very first locomotive made in Italy for the Royal Railroads bore the factory’s name. Pietrarsa was the first industrial complex in Italy, preceding the founding of Breda and Fiat by half a century.

Visit the Bourbon Dynasty Era Factory where Italy’s Rail History Begins

Reggia connects Naples with the Caserta Royal Palace. In 1750 King Charles of Bourbon (1716-1788), later king of Spain, decided to erect the Royal Palace as the ideal center of the new kingdom of Naples on the plains of Terra di Lavoro. The project was entrusted to the architect Luigi Vanvitelli (1700-1773), son of Gaspar Van Wittel, active under Pope Benedict XIV in the restoration of St. Peter’s dome in Rome.

Archaeo Train travels to the Roman and Magna Grecia archaeological sites of this region, including Pompeii, Herculaneum, Paestum and Velia.

Reduce Transit Times and Travel Cost on Your Next Trip

Sannio stops in S. Agata de’Goti, the region’s most beautiful borgo;

Telese Terme taste Falanghina and experience a wine tour of the vineyards;

Benevento area museums: Streghe, Egizio and Sannio as well as a tour of the Longobard era town; 

Padre Pio’s Pietrelcina, Fragneto Monforte e Pontelandolfo.

Sicily and Food by Train 87 municipalities are involved in the promotion of the island’s extensive culinary traditions along 50 itineraries traveling in carriages from bygone eras with diesel, electric, as well as a 1912 steam-driven locomotive to rediscover mountains and rural areas, borghi, castles, art and archaeological finds, parks and natural oases.

Explore Campania and Sicily Aboard Historic Trains

Castles and Coastal Towers in Southern Italy

The History of Coastal Towers goes hand in hand the political and military evolution of the Kingdom of Naples. Fortifications were built in Southern Italy over and eight hundred year period from the 9^th to the 17^th centuries. The original towers were cylindrical in shape, tall and with small windows. Their main function was to sound the alarm when pirate ships were sighted through the lightning of fires, allowing the local population to find shelter into the hills and grottoes inland from the coast.

Increased Raids during the 16^th Century led to Development of More Complex Coastal Defenses

Naples Viceroy Don Pedro of Toledo ordered the construction of massive, square-shaped towers with thicker external walls. The transition from circular-shaped towers to square-shaped ones was spurred by the introduction of artillery requiring fortifications whose functions now included sighting, signaling, shelter as well as the use of offensive weapons that could hit a ship approaching the coast.

Communications were carried out through a series of visual signals - smoke in the daytime, fires by night as well as acoustic signals such as bells, or shots from a cannon or arquebus, a precursor of the rifle. When a pirate ship was sighted from one tower, one of these signals would be used to warn the people of the area to prepare to fight or flee. The signal would be passed from tower to tower, up and down the coast, passing the word quickly and effectively. The ground level floor had no windows and was set directly above a large cistern to guarantee a constant water supply. This space was used to store food and munitions and also contained a millstone for grinding wheat, making the tower self-sufficient.

Saracen Towers can be viewed along the Southern Italian coastline from Gaeta to the Sorrento peninsula, the Amalfi and Cilento coasts. There are over 350 towers, including 30 along the coastal strip from Vietri sul Mare to Positano. Some have been restored and incorporated into modern buildings in small harbors such as San Marco, Pisciotta and Marina di Camerota. Further south, around Cape Infreschi just before reaching Scario, there are cliffs along the coast unreachable by road; here the original coastal towers stand just a few hundred yards apart.

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The Term Saracen has shifted over time. Ptolemy's Geography from the second century mentions Sarakene as a region in the northern Sinai Peninsula and refers to a people called the Sarakenoi. For Italians during the middle ages it meant Muslim invader, from the Arabs who rode the initial wave of Islamic expansion into Spain and Sicily in the 8^th and 9^th centuries to the Ottoman Turks who took Constantinople in the 15^th century.

Coastal Watchtowers were also as a point of reference for friendly ships. The towers were generally manned by a military team of four guards and a horseman, who often remained outside the tower ready to ride into town to carry a warning as soon as possible.

Castles and Coastal Towers Itineraries in Southern Italy

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