Saracena tower

The Torre dei Saraceni stands in the Bucalo district next to the Sanctuary dedicated to the cult of the Madonna del Monte Carmelo. According to some scholars, built around the year 1000, to defend against Saracen raids, it has a cylindrical shape with three floors above ground plus a basement and annexed to a two-storey building dating back to the same period.

Some recent studies by the architect Salvatore Coglitore demonstrate how the tower and the building originally had an additional basement, which became inaccessible due to the mud and debris transported by the Savoca stream during the floods of 1934 and 1958. From here you

can deduces that the tower in medieval times must have been imposing with its 15 meters of height.

The tower and the adjoining building owned by Archimandrite Leonzio Crisafi passed to the Bucolo family in the 15th century. In 1507 the Bucolos built a small church dedicated to the Name of Jesus next to the tower (demolished on 06/24/1929, to make room for the current church). From the Bucalo brothers, the property passed in 1780 to the Marquis Carrozza, who subsequently (1890) divided it into lots and sold it to various owners (Crisafulli, Fiorentino, Pellèri, Micalizzi, etc.). In 1895, the new owner of the tower, Mr. Giuseppe Pellèri (Eng. of the Prato Railways) enlarged and raised the existing original building (summer residence of the Archimandrite and subsequently inhabited by the Bucolo family), incorporating the said tower into it.

With a single room per floor, it is in a fairly good state of conservation even if the plaster is missing in many parts of the facade. The basement was originally ground floor, then with the innumerable floods of the Savoca stream, the share of the land rose up to the current share. Access to the basement is via the Pellèri building. It is called Torre dei Saraceni not because it was built by them, but because it was built to guard against the Saracens (all the pirates of that time were called Saracens), in fact the aforementioned tower did not perform military functions (at least after the 16th century) , but it served to be able to defend the settlers from external dangers (mainly attacks by predators).

With the aforementioned construction, the tower served as a link between the part of the building adjacent to the church (demolished) and the actual building (as it can still be seen today). During the course of the works he reduced the height of the said tower, modified the roof (originally it was a vault, dammuso type, now flat) added the typical battlements of medieval towers, modified the number and style of the openings and created a small balcony (on the west side elevation). In 1929, with the demolition of the old church, the part of the building to the north of the tower was also demolished (to give more space to the new church) so the tower was partially freed, as we see it today. The load-bearing masonry of the tower is in stone, except near the window frames, which is in solid brick.

On the east side facade (the one facing the square) there are three windows lined up in Gothic style, one on each floor; if we then look closely at the ground floor in the north-east corner, we can see traces of the wall of the old church. On the first floor, half of the window of the building demolished together with the old church remains, as if suspended in the air. On the north side facade (the most damaged and in the poorest state of maintenance), on the ground floor (where the church choir was located) we notice part of the original masonry, of the tower; on the first floor there is a door, also in the Gothic style, which overlooks the church from a chest-shaped balcony, with a wrought iron railing, while on the second floor there is a door walled up with solid bricks, this door connected the tower to the of demolished building.

On the west side elevation there is a window on the ground floor, a balcony on the first floor (partly occupied by a precarious aluminum structure), which can be accessed from the building, and on the second floor another walled-up door. The top of the tower is crowned by a series of lunettes with pointed arches below a battlement, all built in brick by Mr. Pellèri. Access to the tower is provided from the aforementioned building. The elders of the place say that in ancient times it was connected to the Bagli tower, which is about 250 meters away as the crow flies, but in fact nothing concrete has ever been ascertained, however behind the tower, about 15 meters to the west, there is still today, even if no longer accessible, an underground, adjacent to a well, which leads to the basement of the building, covered by brushwood and various materials.