The Torre di Porticello is located on a stretch of rocky coast that extends from the bay to Moline to that of Scialmarino, a few kilometers north of Vieste.
The tower was built towards the end of the 1500s, when, due to the intensification of the raids by Saracen pirates, the construction of the ten watchtowers of the Gargano at as many strategic points along the coast.
The towers, almost all in visual connection with each other, managed to communicate with each other and give timely alarms through the lighting of fires and smoke signals.
Recently renovated, privately owned, the tower is located in an area, that of the Tufara bay, full of ancient quarries of a material that the locals incorrectly called tuff.
The cliff, facing north and therefore subjected for thousands of years to the incessant action of the sea and the north wind, has a very jagged and suggestive appearance.
Already in 1630 this tower, with the name Torre della Tufara, appears in the charter of the captaincy of Willem Blaeu.
The characteristic of the calcarenite of this stretch of coast is that it is more malleable than the one we find between Vieste and Mattinata, which is more friable. This feature facilitated the cutting and extraction of the stone material which was used for many centuries for the buildings of the historic center of Vieste, including the Cathedral Romanesque.
The cutting of the rocks has brought out the remains of fossils which make a visit to these quarries even more interesting.
The tower in excellent condition, the many trebuchets nearby, the quarries and the suggestive landscape of this stretch of coast shaped by the wind and the sea make this place perfect for those who want to take a walk in total relaxation, in any season of the year. year.
How to get to the Porticello Tower
To get to the Porticello tower, the suggestion is to get to the first stretch of the Scialmarino bay by deviating from the SP52, and then continue on foot along the easy paths along the coast.
