Nadur Tower Audio guide

A lookout point in Malta's interior

Nadur Tower, known in Maltese as Torri tan-Nadur, stands in Binġemma Gap in the territory of Rabat. It was completed in 1637 as the third of the Lascaris towers and, unlike most other towers in this system, it does not stand on the coast but inland. Its location had a clear military purpose, as it provided visual contact between Lippija Tower, Għajn Tuffieħa Tower, and the fortified city of Mdina.

At the time of its construction, it formed part of a broader defensive network designed to warn of enemy movements and speed up the transmission of messages across the island. In the seventeenth century, Malta was a strategic point in the Mediterranean, and structures like this reflected the need to protect the island not only against naval attacks, but also against rapid incursions into its interior.

Architecture and state of preservation

The tower is smaller than the other Lascaris towers. It has a square plan, one floor, and two rooms. The roof was originally reached by a wooden ladder, later replaced by iron steps fixed to the wall. This very simplicity shows that it was a functional military structure, not a representative building.

Today, the tower is in good condition and is among the valuable relics of Malta's early modern fortification. In 2008 it was damaged in a vandal attack, but it was restored within a few days. That incident also served as a reminder that such monuments are not only historical heritage, but also a fragile part of the present-day landscape.