Ambolo IT / About / The watchtowers
The watchtowers of the Marina Alta
In the sixteenth century a chain of watchtowers kept an eye on the coast of the Marina Alta. Ambolo IT is named after one of them. A short guide, including the places you can still visit.
Why the towers were built
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries Barbary and Turkish pirates regularly raided the Valencian coast, and the Marina Alta in particular. To protect the villages, a system of watchtowers, castles and fortified churches was built.
The towers were placed so they could see each other. When the lookouts spotted enemy ships, they passed the alarm from tower to tower with smoke and fire, so the villages were warned in time. As early as 1553 the Duke of Maqueda laid down rules for the coast guard. Under Philip II, the engineer Giovanni Battista Antonelli developed the network further.
Along the coast
Torre d'Ambolo, Xàbia
The tower Ambolo IT is named after. It stands above Cala Ambolo, on the road to Cap de la Nau, and guarded the coast between Cap de la Nau and Moraira. A round tower with two floors and a gun platform on top, already mentioned in the coast guard rules of 1553. It is on private land; you see it best from the sea.
La Granadella, Xàbia
There was also a watchtower by the Granadella cove. In the eighteenth century a small fort was built on top of it, of which only ruins remain. The lookouts at Cap d'Or in Moraira kept in contact with this post.
Torre del Cap d'Or, Moraira
On the headland above El Portet beach, built in 1563 to Antonelli's plan. The tower had no door: the lookouts climbed in by rope ladder. They kept in contact with La Granadella and with the post by the Peñón de Ifach in Calp, and in case of danger warned Teulada and the surrounding villages.
Moraira Castle
On l'Ampolla beach stands an eighteenth-century castle, built against the same pirates. Its plan has the shape of an ox hoof and the Bourbon coat of arms hangs above the door. Inside is a permanent exhibition about the watchtowers of Philip II's time.
Seeing them yourself
The best walk is the one to the Torre del Cap d'Or. Route SL-CV 51 starts at the El Portet car park, is about one and a half kilometres long and takes around an hour there and back. The last stretch crosses rocks that can be slippery, so wear sturdy shoes. At the top you look out over the Peñón de Ifach and the Bèrnia, and on a clear day as far as Ibiza.
Moraira Castle stands on l'Ampolla beach. Check the exhibition's opening hours with the Teulada-Moraira tourist office. The Ambolo tower is on private land; you see it best from the water.
Why we tell this story
In 1981 our family had its first house on the Costa Blanca, in the Ambolo urbanisation near Cap de la Nau, and the tower there gave Ambolo IT its name. Those towers worked the way we want to work: see what's coming early, warn in time and work together as one whole. Read more in the story behind the name.
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