Ahrax Tower & Battery

Ahrax Tower (The White Tower) & Battery

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Ahrax Tower, originally known as Torre di Lacras, and also known as Armier Tower or the White Tower, is a watchtower overlooking Armier Bay in the limits of Mellieħa. It was built by the Knights of St John in 1658 as the sixth of the De Redin towers. An artillery battery was built around it in 1715. Today, the tower and battery are intact but in very bad condition and in need of urgent restoration. Aħrax Tower is the northernmost fortification on the main island of Malta. In the 19th century, the British used the tower as a naval station and they added several rooms to the tower’s structure. At a point it served as the Governor’s summer residence. Following World War II the tower ended in private hands but it was eventually abandoned. The area around the tower is now covered with concrete. Over the years Aħrax Tower was heavily modified so it is difficult to distinguish which parts of the tower are original. The battery remains largely intact, with the exception of one of the linking walls. In 2009, the tower was passed over to the Mellieħa Local Council.

Ahrax battery is an artillery battery built 1715 around Ahrax tower by the Knights of St John, and was called Batteria della Harach. The battery consisted of a semi-circular gun platform with an en barbette parapet, a blockhouse built on the western wall of the tower, and two walls linking the tower to the gun platform. It was surrounded by a rock hewn ditch.  The battery remains largely intact, with the exception of one of the linking walls, but is in need of restoration and most of the ditch now overgrown with vegetation.