From the website www.reciproca.it, text by Enzo Velati: «The large number of coastal towers that today punctuate the historical memories along the beaches and cliffs of Puglia comes as a surprise to those traveling the roads along the sea that, making the perimeter of the Gargano, stretch from Termoli to Margherita di Savoia. The towers stand in scenic locations: they served to monitor the coasts and recall periods when the sea was not a friendly presence but a dangerous gateway for pirates and corsairs who plundered slaves and harvests. Watch posts on the sea have existed since prehistory, but the Saracen towers mostly date back to the 1500s, a consequence of a political decision that saw Puglia as a bulwark of the Kingdom of Naples against the Turks. Consider Vieste sacked in 1480, the year of the Otranto massacre, then in 1554 (with 5,000 victims and the origin of the fame of the “Chianca amara”), and again in 1674 and 1678. From 1532 and for over 200 years, a chain of towers was built to promptly warn cities of approaching danger. Each tower had to be visible from two others, and the alarm was given with fires, horns, and bells. In Capitanata in 1748 there were 25, many built between 1568 and 1569 when Alfonso Salazar entrusted Giovanni della Monica with the construction of 21 towers. Hence the uniformity of the Gargano towers: quadrangular, truncated pyramid-shaped, with machicolations on each side. The entrance was at the top with retractable ladders, later replaced by masonry ramps. Intact towers include Torre Mileto and Torre Rivoli; others such as Sfinale, Calalunga, Portonuovo, S. Felice, Torre Petra, and Monte Pucci have lost their battlements or undergone modifications. The oldest towers, probably from the late 13th century, are located at the eastern mouth of Lake Varano: cylindrical, with Ghibelline battlements (swallowtail-shaped), very rare in the region.»