Ruines de la tour de la Mortella à Saint-Florent

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Monument Historique Ruines de la tour de la Mortella situé à Saint-Florent

Crédit photo : COLLE M. - Sous licence Creative Commons

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Monument Historique

Adresse renseignée dans la base Mérimée :
20217 Saint-Florent - France

Code Insee de la commune : 2B298
Haute Corse [2B] - Bastia - Corse

Adresse approximative issue des coordonnées GPS (latitude et longitude) :

Eléments protégés :
Tour de la Mortella (ruines) (cad. C 279) : inscription par arrêté du 8 mars 1991

Historique :
Tour édifiée en 1553 et fortifiée en 1554, pendant la guerre de Corse, par l'amiral Andrea Doria. Cette tour est la seule de l'ensemble du littoral des Agriates existant, non seulement de nos jours mais également aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. En raison de son importance stratégique (face à l'entrée du golfe de Saint-Florent) , les autorités génoises lui attribuèrent une garnison tournante payée par la Camera. Elle assurait également le rôle de poste de douane. Dans la seconde moitié du XVIIIe siècle, une série d'évènements sont à l'origine de sa destruction. En 1760, Pascal Paoli fit tirer sur la tour. En 1793, les Anglais s'en emparèrent. En 1794, reprise par les Français, la tour fut à nouveau attaquée par les Anglais qui s'en emparèrent. L'amiral Nelson aurait demandé à son état major d'en relever les plans comme modèle pour la construction de tours sur les côtes de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande.£Actuellement à demi ruinée, la tour circulaire comprenait trois niveaux et une terrasse couronnée de mâchicoulis. Le premier niveau contenait une citerne. L'escalier intérieur qui permettait de passer d'un étage à l'autre, a disparu. Au-dessus du cordon, le mur est construit selon une pente extérieure de 13° reprise, côté intérieur, d'une manière parallèle. Cette pente intérieure correspond à la voûte qui coiffait le premier niveau.

Périodes de construction :
1ère moitié XVIe siècle

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Ruines de la tour de la Mortella - English: The Tour de Mortella is a Genoese tower on the west coast of the French island of Corsica. It is located near the Punta Mortella (Myrtle Point) in the commune of Saint-Florent. The tower served as an inspiration for the numerous Martello towers built by the British in the first half of the 19th century. The artist 'DCF' has not been identified. He was probably an army officer of the British force under General David Dundas that captured the tower in February 1794.

Ruines de la tour de la Mortella - English: Mortella Tower. Corsica (elevation). First illustration in Plan of Mortella Tower, St Fiorenzo Bay. Corsica, 1794Bound with PAD1622-PAD1623 which are related details of the tower on Mortella Point, on the western side of the Gulf of San Fiorenzo. This was taken on 10 February 1794 after British naval and army bombardment from sea and land during the capture of Corsica, in order to secure the important anchorage which it covered. Initially - garrisoned by a small French force under a determined army ensign called Thomas Le Tellier - it beat off two British 74-gun ships ('Juno' and 'Fortitude') sent to secure the anchorage as a preliminary to British invasion of the island, by firing red-hot shot from the large gun on its roof. This started a fire in Fortitude', which also had six men killed. The British later took if from the landward and recorded its characteristics before blowing it up (though part survives) when they abandoned the island two years later. It was subsequently the inspiration for the 'Martello Towers' built as coastal defences in Southern England, Ireland and elsewhere from c. 1805. The artist 'CFD' has not been identified but is probably one of the officers of the attacking force under General David Dundas. The English corruption of the Italian 'mortella' (myrtle) to 'martello' occurs in both related naval logs and correspondence (mainly as 'Martello Bay') from the very beginning and is the source of the name by which the later towers were known. That 'martello' means 'hammer' in Italian is just coincidence, as is the much earlier existence of Italian 'torre di martelloio' (watchtowers with warning bells). The name was first enshrined in the title of the single print made by James Fittler from this drawing, PAD1622 and PAD1623: all three of these sketches came into the possession of John MacArthur - the secretary to Admiral Lord Hood in the Mediterranean - shortly after its capture, who was instrumental in the print's production. For a copy of the print see PAD1624. For the original construction model of the subsequent British towers, see MDL0010. [PvdM: amended 5/12] Mortella Tower. Corsica (elevation). First illustration in Plan of Mortella Tower, St Fiorenzo Bay. Corsica, 1794

English: Mortella Tower. Corsica (elevation). First illustration in Plan of Mortella Tower, St Fiorenzo Bay. Corsica, 1794Bound with PAD1622-PAD1623 which are related details of the tower on Mortella Point, on the western side of the Gulf of San Fiorenzo. This was taken on 10 February 1794 after British naval and army bombardment from sea and land during the capture of Corsica, in order to secure the important anchorage which it covered. Initially - garrisoned by a small French force under a determined army ensign called Thomas Le Tellier - it beat off two British 74-gun ships ('Juno' and 'Fortitude') sent to secure the anchorage as a preliminary to British invasion of the island, by firing red-hot shot from the large gun on its roof. This started a fire in Fortitude', which also had six men killed. The British later took if from the landward and recorded its characteristics before blowing it up (though part survives) when they abandoned the island two years later. It was subsequently the inspiration for the 'Martello Towers' built as coastal defences in Southern England, Ireland and elsewhere from c. 1805. The artist 'CFD' has not been identified but is probably one of the officers of the attacking force under General David Dundas. The English corruption of the Italian 'mortella' (myrtle) to 'martello' occurs in both related naval logs and correspondence (mainly as 'Martello Bay') from the very beginning and is the source of the name by which the later towers were known. That 'martello' means 'hammer' in Italian is just coincidence, as is the much earlier existence of Italian 'torre di martelloio' (watchtowers with warning bells). The name was first enshrined in the title of the single print made by James Fittler from this drawing, PAD1622 and PAD1623: all three of these sketches came into the possession of John MacArthur - the secretary to Admiral Lord Hood in the Mediterranean - shortly after its capture, who was instrumental in the print's production. For a copy of the print see PAD1624. For the original construction model of the subsequent British towers, see MDL0010. [PvdM: amended 5/12] Mortella Tower. Corsica (elevation). First illustration in Plan of Mortella Tower, St Fiorenzo Bay. Corsica, 1794

Crédit : C. F. D

Sous licence Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0

Ruines de la tour de la Mortella - English: An accurate representation of a Martello Tower erected in St. Fiorenza Bay, Corsica

from a sketch by John Theophilus Lee of HMS Barfleur in 1795, son of the late Captain Lee R. N.
Taken from The Naval Chronicle: Volume 22, July-December 1809: Containing a General and ... edited by James Stanier Clarke, John McArthur. Page 106 and 107. Plate CCXC.

Ruines de la tour de la Mortella - Français : Tour dite génoise A Mortella San Fiurenzu

Page Wikipedia : Ruines de la tour de la Mortella à Saint-Florent

Fiche Mérimée : PA00099279

Dernière mise à jour de la fiche Monumentum : 2026-05-27

Consultez le programme des Journées du Patrimoine pour le Monument Historique Ruines de la tour de la Mortella situé à Saint-Florent en consultant le programme officiel des JEP 2026.