Torre del Coltellazzo, Military tower and museum in Pula, Italy.
Torre del Coltellazzo is a sandstone tower standing on a promontory that was built as a coastal defense structure. The building combines defensive features with an operating lighthouse system for maritime guidance.
Spanish forces built this coastal defense tower in the late 1500s to watch ship movements in the western Gulf of Cagliari. Fortified walls and turrets were added in the 1700s, followed later by a lighthouse from the 1800s.
From the 18th century the tower was also called Torre di Sant'Efisio, after the warrior martyr whom tradition says was beheaded at Nora. It was a torre de armas, a heavily armed tower whose garrison was commanded by an alcalde, and it kept visual contact with the towers of Cala d'Ostia, San Macario and del Diavolo.
The tower stands on the Punta del Coltellazzo promontory above the Nora ruins, about three kilometres southeast of Pula. Visitors reach the entrance, six metres above ground on the northwest side, by a curved metal staircase along the outer wall. The platform is closed to visitors; the interior is entered on the first floor, which has a domed vault on a central pillar, and a stone stair leads up from there.
The tower's base rests on remains of buildings from the acropolis of Nora, the Phoenician city founded in the 7th century BC. The entrance, reached by a curved metal staircase, sits 6 metres above ground on the northwest side; the platform is closed to visitors.
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