One of the six coastal watchtowers built to defend the Circeo promontory, erected in 1562 on the orders of Pope Pius IV, who by papal brief instructed the lords of Sermoneta and San Felice (the Caetani) to build the first four towers of the defensive system, including this one at Cala Cervia. Damaged over the centuries, the tower is now a ruin, so much so that it is popularly called ‘La Torraccia’ (the Wretched Tower); in 1811 the French troops garrisoned at San Felice built a battery nearby to take over its by then compromised defensive role.
These lands belonged to the Papal States, at the end of the 16th century. There was a need both to watch for raids by Barbary pirates and Turks and to protect the ships crossing the Gulf on their way from Naples and Sicily to Rome. To control and defend the territory, Pope Pius IV ordered Niccolò and Bonifacio Caetani (Lords of Sermoneta and San Felice) to build, at their own expense, four Towers (Torre Paola, Torre Moresca, Torre Cervia and Torre Fico) to keep watch over the coast, the inland areas and shipping. This Tower, together with Torre Moresca, was built further inland than Torre Paola and Torre Fico, at the points of the promontory most exposed to pirate attacks; both stood on rocky points, except Torre Cervia. It was entered from the first floor via a wooden gangway which, once raised, made entry more difficult. From its construction onwards (1839), local texts often mention soldiers defending it from raids by sea and by land. In 1809 English ships attacked the coast for the second time (for the first clash, see Torre Vittoria) and caused heavy damage. The English anchored just off this Tower and landed some eighty sailors, who took the Tower without a fight: it seems they knew the commander then garrisoning Torre Cervia. From here they moved on to Torre Fico, which they quickly besieged (this time climbing over the wall and seizing the cannons on the gun platform). They soon also occupied Torre Moresca (left unguarded to defend the other Towers!). Fire was then opened and the Towers were destroyed: Torre Cervia and Torre Fico were damaged, while Torre Moresca was razed to the ground. They then (or at the same time) attacked Torre Paola, but here the English were defeated and forced to retreat. The Tower was rebuilt only in 1947 thanks to Count Galeazzi, but the rebuilding did not follow the original design. The shield wall that protected the uphill side of the gun platform is missing, a staircase (easier to use) was built in place of the drawbridge, and a semicircular veranda at the base on the sea side changes its appearance; as Lanzuisi writes, “it gives the tower the look of a pot-bellied matron wearing a showy… crenellated skirt”. Since 1978 the Tower has been privately owned; it was rebuilt in the 1950s in a way that completely altered the reading of its original layout.
