Torre Picada, Pirate Defence Tower - Port de Soller, Mallorca, Spain
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member dtrebilc
N 39° 48.378 E 002° 41.850
31S E 474106 N 4406302
This stone tower was built as a defence tower against attack by pirates on the hillside above Port de Soller in 1622.
Waymark Code: WMRFK3
Location: Islas Baleares, Spain
Date Posted: 06/19/2016
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member SearchN
Views: 7

"The Torre Picada is a guard and defence tower north east of the harbour of Port de Sóller on the Spanish Balearic island of Mallorca . Its location is part of the municipality of Sóller . The Torre Picada has a height of around 11 meters and almost the same diameter and is one of the larger systems of inselumspannenden network of historic fortification towers that were built to protect against recurrent pirate raids. Historical records show that the plans were carried out in Sóller in 1561 after one of the last great pirate attacks. But construction began only in 1614, and completed at the end of 1622.

Best feature is the location of the entrance door. To prevent direct attacks at close range, it was several meters above the ground. Due to its location right on the 160-meter-high cliffs of the steep coast of Port de Sóller, the tower gave the guards an excellent overview of the offshore islands s'Illetas on the right and the entrance to the harbour of Port de Sóller on the left.

The Torre Picada has been restored and is now privately owned. It is always kept locked and visitors are not allowed inside." link

Site Description: Historicbuilding on public land, but tower itself is private

Date of Pirate Activity (Estimated): 1561

Reference Web-link or Book Title: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_Picada

Site Admission (If needed): Public land but tower cannot be entered.

Hours Available (If needed):
Site accessible in daylight hours and due to nature of the land not advisable to enter after dark.


Additional Information (optional):
The tower is visible from the seaside town of Port de Soller and although it is not possible to enter the tower it is a popular destination for a walk from the port and takes roughly 1/2 hour. Although not far the path is fairly steep and at one point there are a few stone stops to negotiate when leaving the road and joining a path through woodland. A good place to start this walk is tram station at Port de Sóller. When we got off the tram walk back several meters the same way that the tram came. Then walk along the promenade parallel to the tram tracks for about 120 meters, then turn to the left and cross the street Antoni Montis . At the end of this street we see a roundabout. We must continue our path by taking the road to the left and along the Avenida Onze de Maig. After this street we find a place; continue straight down the street opposite, carrer of Belgium, which rises with a steep slope. Follow this road to a sharp left curve. At this point take the path of S'Illeta, which is straight ahead and although surfaced carries very little traffic. You will come to a bend in the road to the right. Directly ahead away from the road is a locked gate with stone steps next it.

Having taken the steps into the woodland take the wide dirt track to the left to reach the tower.

It is very easy to miss the locked gate and steps, but their location is at N 39 48 21.39 E 2 41 51.56


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pepper13 visited Torre Picada, Pirate Defence Tower -  Port de Soller, Mallorca, Spain 09/18/2016 pepper13 visited it