Marsaxlokk watchtower set to be relocated to nearby site

New plans submitted by the Marsaxlokk local council propose relocating a historic watchtower dating back to the Knights of St John to a nearby site. 

Originally the council wanted to relocate the tower to an ODZ area 70 metres away near the locality’s football ground. The relocation is being proposed to make way for a new road passing through the area currently occupied by the tower.

The tower is now set to be relocated by a few meters to the north of its current location facing Triq ta’ Xerriek, thus remaining within the development zone. 

Both the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA) and the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage (SCH) had strongly objected to moving the structure to the ODZ site. The SCH maintained that the best option was to keep the structure in place but accepted its relocation to a nearby site if no other solution was possible.

However, environmentalists fear that the relocation will pave the way for a planned road through the current watchtower site, potentially paving the way for more development. They point to a similar situation in Dingli, where the creation of a schemed road triggered applications for two massive apartment blocks which risk overshadowing a medieval chapel. 

In Marsaxlokk, the site was added to the development zone in the 2006 boundary extension, raising concerns that the road could facilitate further construction in the area.

The council argues that the new road is necessary to improve transport between the Kavallerizza area which has grown in recent years and the rest of Marsaxlokk. A final decision is expected at a Planning Commission meeting on 2 April.  

During a meeting last summer, the Planning Commission gave the council six weeks to submit new plans, which could still involve disassembling and reconstructing the watchtower a few metres away on the same plot of land.

At that meeting, Annick Bonello from Nature Trust voiced concerns about the road’s impact on the surrounding countryside, stressing the interconnectedness of the area’s historical monuments and landscape. On the other hand the council’s architect had reluctantly accepted the proposed relocation to a nearby site while pointing out that the land in question was privately owned.

The Heritage Value of the Barumbara Tower

The structure, described as a barumbara (pigeon loft), originally served as a rural watchtower, according to the SCH. It also has historical and contextual value, standing just 33 metres from the scheduled Torri tal-Kavallerizza area.

“The Barumbara, the Torri Kavallerizza, and other rural vernacular structures in the area form a nucleus of architectural, historic, and contextual significance that should be retained and enhanced,” the SCH stated when reviewing the application four years ago. The SCH has recommended scheduling the building at Grade 2, which would protect it from demolition.

The relocation of historical monuments runs counter to international heritage guidelines, including the 1964 Venice Charter, which states that “a monument is inseparable from the history to which it bears witness and from the setting in which it occurs.” It allows relocation only in cases where the monument’s safeguarding depends on it or where there is a compelling national or international interest.