Calabria, the 16th-century Ancinale Tower in Satriano is in danger of collapsing

An important 16th-century building in Calabria, the Ancinale Tower (also known as the Ravaschiera Tower), in Satriano Marina, in the Satriano municipal area, is in danger of collapsing. It is a valuable asset because it is one of the few 16th-century coastal fortifications that still survive in the area. The name comes from the fact that it is located near the Ancinale River (the other name by which it is known instead is due to the fact that in the seventeenth century it became the property of the Ravaschiera princes). In ancient times it was part of a complex of more than three hundred fortifications that defended the borders of the kingdom of Naples under Emperor Charles V: the Ancinale tower, in particular, was built as a watchtower against the corsairs that infested the area.

This important building, however, is in danger of collapsing: the section of Italia Nostra of Soverato and Guardavalle is reporting it. It has been in a state of neglect for years, so much so that already in 2011 it was ranked first in Calabria (and twelfth in Italy) in the FAI’s “Places of the Heart” ranking, but the recognition failed to shake the local administrations and move them toward preservation operations. “Heavy rains from September 2009 to the present,” Italia Nostra denounces, “collapsed a trussed attic covering four rooms. The site, which once featured a wonderful river landscape, could once again house (if recreated) the different varieties of fish and waterfowl that have now disappeared. The Italia Nostra section notes that there would be every reason to build a bike path as well. The oil mill, then, lends itself to being recovered by proposing it as a working example of Mediterranean industrial archaeology. It could, thus, host a permanent and temporary educational multimedia exhibition of local and non-local artists. The hope for the section of Italia Nostra, but not only, is that the administrators will become aware of the privilege of owning in their territory an asset of historical importance; the stability of the Historic Building is increasingly precarious and we are just waiting for the final collapse.”

In addition to all this, Italia Nostra concludes, there are “the difficulties of making legitimate private interests coincide with public ones, the placing of the owners in default by the Soprintendenza archeologia belle arti di Cosenza and, finally, the threatened crossing in the area of the Tower, of the final road section of the transversal of the Serre.”

Calabria, the 16th-century Ancinale Tower in Satriano is in danger of collapsing

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