Old Ruins Of Torre Dell`Omomorto, Puglia, Italy Stock Photography

It is one of hundreds of towers that are regularly found along the Salento coastline. Besides serving as defence elements, these towers were mainly used to spot the possible presence and approach of Saracen ships, which for a long time invaded Otranto and the other municipalities of the Salento peninsula, and to sound the alarm inland through light signals that were immediately transmitted from one tower to the next.The Dead Man`s Tower is located near the Cristoforo Colombo seafront; Luigi Tasselli dates it to 1555 by Andrea Gonzaga[4] who became count of Alessano in 1560 after the death of his father Ferrante I Gonzaga also known as Ferdinando and his mother Isabella Di Capua.It has a truncated conical base, while above the curb it is cylindrical with a terrace equipped with battlements for the emplacement of artillery. It is commonly assigned to the genre of `hammer towers, but compared to these it has the peculiarity that instead of cannonry, there is a door at the base.The name `Dead Man` is due to some human bones found in a cave in the vicinity of the tower.It was abandoned in 1846