The Orsi Tower : a forgotten harbour landmark

Abstract

Of the many coastal towers built by the Knights of the Order of St John in the Maltese islands, perhaps the least known is Orsi Tower, or as it was also called, San Petronio Tower. This coastal guard post once stood at the very tip of Gallow's Point overlooking the entrance to the Grand Harbour, right across from Fort St Elmo. For nearly two centuries, it was one of the most visible harbour landmarks before it was destroyed by heavy seas during a particularly violent storm on 8 February 1821, leaving nothing behind it other than the imprint of its rock-hewn moat.