Torre delle Stelle

Torre delle Stelle is a coastal settlement on a headland between Cagliari and Villasimius, in the municipality of Maracalagonis. The Torre de su Fenugu, a Spanish-era watchtower, stands above the village and its two bays, Cann’e Sisa and Genn’e Mari.

Why it matters

The headland’s watchtower belongs to the coastal defensive system built along Sardinia’s shore in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Ministry of Culture’s heritage report records an operational tower at the site in 1578, while a university maritime-history atlas dates the tower to 1585. Its elevated position linked it visually with nearby coastal towers.

What to notice

Torre de su Fenugu has a truncated-cone form, with a raised entrance facing inland, a barrel-vaulted chamber and four loopholes. The structure stands about eighty-six metres above sea level and offers sightlines toward Capo Boi and Cala Regina. Below the ridge, Cann’e Sisa and Genn’e Mari face different directions along the coast.

Context and history

The tower was repaired several times during the early seventeenth century and again under Savoy rule. The Ministry report documents restoration in 1763 and rebuilding in 1829–30 to a design by Girolamo Melis. Its last permanent garrison left in 1843. The village of Torre delle Stelle developed as a summer settlement from the 1960s; the municipality restored the tower in 1998, and it was declared of cultural interest in 2018.