Torre di Santa Maria, Coastal defense tower in Ustica, Italy

Torre di Santa Maria is a square coastal tower rising approximately 15 meters above Cala Santa Maria port with a truncated pyramidal shape. The structure features windows on its northwest and southeast sides, with multiple levels containing barrel-vaulted rooms organized around a central corridor.

The tower was designed in 1759 by military engineer Andrea Pigonati under orders from Charles III of Bourbon, with construction beginning shortly after. Completion in 1763 used locally quarried lava stone in its building.

The structure formed part of Sicily's coastal defense network, enabling visual communication with other fortifications to monitor Saracen incursions across the Mediterranean waters.

The tower cannot be visited: the museum and gallery once housed here have moved to the town centre. The original stone arch that carried the drawbridge is gone, replaced by two masonry ramps with an iron railing; the two projecting corbels that held the drawbridge remain. The second floor is reached by an iron ladder and is also closed.

The entrance door sits at first-floor level, once reached by a masonry arch carrying a drawbridge; the arch is gone, replaced by two walled ramps with an iron railing, though the two projecting corbels that held the drawbridge remain. A modest addition on the second floor may have served as a prison.