Torre delle Saline, Coastal defense tower in Stintino, Italy

Torre delle Saline is a two-storey coastal tower on the northern end of the beach of the same name in Stintino, built of local schist. It is conical, 12.5 m high and 11.80 m in diameter, with walls two metres thick. The first-floor chamber, 7.30 m across, has a central pillar carrying a mushroom-shaped vault and three radial embrasures.

The tower was built in 1572, as recorded in Marco Antonio Camos's Relaçion de todas las costas maritimas de lo Reyno de Cerdeña, compiled for Philip II of Spain. It guarded the salt pans and tuna fisheries active nearby since around 1200. It belonged to the heavy-defence torri de armas and kept visual contact with the towers of Porto Torres, Trabucado and Capo Falcone.

The name refers to the salt pans active nearby since around 1200 AD, which the tower was built to guard along with the tuna fisheries. The structure is a torre de armas, a heavy-defence tower, and its garrison of an alcaide plus five or six artillerymen and soldiers was sized to protect that working coast.

The only entrance is a hatch four metres above the ground, reached in the past by rope or rung ladders pulled up in case of danger. Inside, a ladder leads to the upper floor and a narrow stair cut into the perimeter wall climbs to the terrace. The terrace slab was rebuilt during a restoration, so it differs from the original.

The first floor is a bomb-proof chamber 7.30 metres across, with a central pillar carrying a mushroom-shaped vault. Three embrasures set in a radial pattern ventilated the room and allowed some control of the ground around the tower. A narrow stair cut inside the perimeter wall leads up to the terrace.