Defense tower “Torre del Tostón” (or "Castillo de El Cotillo") is located in the coastal town of
el Cotillo, which forms part of the municipality of
la Oliva,
Fuerteventura
Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, geographically part of Macaronesia, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the coast of North Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO i ...
,
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
. This defense tower was recognized as historic-artistic monument in 1949. Nowadays, famous local artists use Torre del Tostón as exhibition room, and it's one of the island's main tourist destinations, including as viewpoint.
History
French explorer
Jean de Bethencourt created the first defense tower, known as "el Castillo de Rico Roque", during the first years of the colonization of the Canary Islands.
Military engineer
Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics ...
Claudio de L'Isle built a new one on the ruins of the previous defense tower around 1700,
which was named "Torre de Nuestra Señora del Pilar y San Miguel". This defense tower consisted of two floors, and three iron cannons that were used to defend the coast and boats moored in the port of el Costillo against pirates who operated from France, England and North Africa (
Barbary pirates
The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...
).
Identical towers
The archipelago of the Canary Islands features a certain number of defense towers situated on various corners, which have the same structure and identical characteristics. It was added to the list of Spanish cultural heritage (“
Bien de Interés Cultural
(, , , ) is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Colombia and other Spanish-speaking countries.
The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" ("goods" in the economic sense). It includes not only mater ...
”) in 1949. Torre del Tostón is almost identical to the following castles/ towers:
* Torre de San André (
Tenerife
Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...
)
* Torre de Gando (
Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, a Spain, Spanish archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa. the island had a population of that constitut ...
)
* Torreón de San Pedro Mártir (Gran Canaria)
*
Castillo de San Buenaventura (Fuerteventura)
* Castillo de las Coloradas (
Lanzarote
Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands, off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula.
Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the islands in the archipelago. With 163,230 inhabi ...
)
External links
Guía de FuerteventuraRutas con HistoriaFuerteventura en ImágenesSobre Canarias
{{Coord, 28, 40, 47.92, N, 14, 0, 38.15, W, region:ES-GC_type:landmark_dim:20, display=title
Buildings and structures in Fuerteventura
Castles in the Canary Islands
Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Las Palmas