Torre di Vignola, Coastal defence tower in Aglientu, Sardinia, Italy

Torre di Vignola is a truncated-cone coastal tower of irregular local granite blocks, 12 m in diameter at the base and 12 m high, with walls about 2 m thick. It stands on a promontory roughly 20 m above sea level between Punta di li Francesi and the Vignola hamlet of Aglientu. Its entrance, 5.35 m above the ground, leads to a bomb-proof casemate 6.10 m across, divided into three sectors.

The tower was built in 1605 to guard a tuna fishery established a few years earlier, replacing the mobile watchposts (atalayas) set up in 1572 between the Isola Rossa and Santa Reparata towers. It was classed as a gagliarda (heavy defence) and garrisoned by an alcaide, a gunner and three soldiers with a cannon, two swivel guns and six rifles. Documented repairs followed in 1720, 1777, 1827 and 1828, and the tower remained manned even after the Royal Tower Administration was suppressed.

The tower was built in 1605 to guard a tuna fishery (tonnara) established a few years earlier, replacing the mobile watch posts (atalayas) set up in 1572. Its garrison of an alcaide, an artilleryman and three soldiers kept watch over the fishery and the coast between the Isola Rossa and Santa Reparata towers.

The tower stands on a promontory between Punta di li Francesi and the Vignola hamlet of Aglientu, about 20 m above sea level. The original entrance is 5.35 m above the ground; an external staircase added around the mid-1800s now gives access. Inside, a narrow, steep stair built into the perimeter wall leads up to the terrace.

From its raised position, the tower overlooks the Bocche di Bonifacio, the narrow strait between Sardinia and Corsica. This commanding view over the strait made the site strategically vital for maritime surveillance.