The Fortified City

The fortified system of Alghero was originally composed of 26 square towers, built in the Middle Ages, thanks to the Genoese.

Seeing that the defense system was weak, the Catalan/Aragon restored the towers in the mid-XVI century, in order to better protect the city.

Fernando “Il Cattolico”, although keeping the same structure, decided to shape the defense system in shorter and stronger walls.

The ground defense was also fortified thanks to the construction of the Forte della Maddalena, Forte di Montalbano and Forte dello Sperone. From mid-1800 until the beginning of 1900, when the military fortresses were erased (1867), the forts Sperone and Maddalena were demolished to allow the urban development of Alghero.

As of today, 8 towers are part of the city’s defense system, while 10 towers in the outskirts of Alghero were supposed to defend the city from the coast attacks.