Villaputzu, Torre di Porto Corallo

The name of the tower dates back to the 16th century due to the strong presence, in the area, of corallari.
The tower controlled a strategic area: the mouth of the Flumendosa. This area was already popular in Punic times, as a landing place for the city of Sarcapos/Sarrabos and, in medieval times, it was defended by the disappeared castle of Malvicino or Sarrabos. The current fortress, 15 m above sea level, was in visual contact with the tower of Monte Rosso, to the north, and those of the Saline and Capo Ferrato, to the south.
The tower was built by the Royal Administration of the Towers in the last decade of the 16th century.
The shape is cylindrical, with a slight offset; the height, from ground level to the top of the terrace opening, is 14 m. The entrance to the first floor is open 6.5 m above the ground; the inner chamber, circular, has a diameter of 6 m, once domed and three troniers. This room, also called casamatta, that is, the internal bombproof room, to the right of the entrance, has a staircase that leads to the upper floor and inside the walls. Also on the first floor you can see a fireplace and a hatch to descend into the tank below.
On the upper floor, originally open, also called Piazza d'Armi, the crescent was built, a light structure, with a semicircular shape, made of reeds and blocks, which rested on the parapet facing the ground; its purpose was to protect the ammunition and the men of the tower for the night; on the sea side, on the other hand, the masonry was crenellated to house the cannons.
The tower, in a report from 1720, appears to be in good condition; fifty years later, the artifact needed restoration and so, between 1777 and 1778, the upper structure was demolished and rebuilt up to the level of the hatch; other interventions were carried out in 1791 and 1798.
The tower, in the 1767 report by the Piedmontese Ripol, is referred to as a guard tower with a small garrison consisting of a warden, two soldiers and an armament consisting of only two pushes.
In the 19th century, the upper floor was closed, the entire parapet was raised and all the battlements were transformed into windows; at the same time, a stone staircase was placed against the tower.
The tower of Porto Corallo, as Della Marmora writes, was attacked in 1812 by a fleet of Tunisian barbarians, rejected thanks to the intervention of people from Villaputzu and Muravera.
Around the thirties of the nineteenth century, the tower was repaired according to a project by the architect Melis; then, after 1842, the date of the abolition of the Royal Administration of the Towers, used for other purposes. It was restored in 1984.

History of studies
The tower is included in the main works on coastal fortifications in Sardinia.

Bibliography
A. Della Marmora, Itinerary of the Island of Sardinia, Cagliari, Alagna, 1868;
E. Pillosu, The coastal towers in Sardinia, Cagliari, La Cartotecnica Typography, 1957;
E. Pillosu, “An unprecedented sixteenth-century report on the coastal defense of Marco Antonio Camos”, in New Sardinian Bibliographic Bulletin and Archive of Popular Traditions, V, 1959; F. Fois, Spanish Towers and Piedmontese Forts in Sardinia, Cagliari, La Voce Sarda, 1981;
G. Montaldo, Le Torri coastal in Sardinia, Sassari, Carlo Delfino, Sassari 1992;
F. Russo, The coastal defense of the Kingdom of Sardinia from the 16th to the 19th century, Rome, Army General Staff, Historical Office, 1992;
G. Montaldo, “Forts and Coastal Towers”, in The Fortified Architecture of Central-Southern Sardinia. Proceedings of the Study Day, Cagliari, October 16, 1999;
M. Rassu, Guide to coastal towers and forts, Cagliari, Artigianarte, Cagliari 2000.

How to get there
Coming from the SS 125 from Muravera, you must pass Villaputzu and, on the north-eastern outskirts of the town, take the SP 99 branch to Porto Corallo.