The tower of Santa Liberata is a coastal tower located in the municipality of Monte Argentario, along the northern coast of the Argentario promontory, not far from the port of Santa Liberata.
The tower was built by the Spaniards shortly after the mid-sixteenth century, when the whole area now belonged to the State of the Presidios. As location, an area was chosen in which numerous archaeological finds and remains from the Roman era were discovered, among which stand out on all the Domitian Baths.
In 1739 the coastal defensive structure was further reinforced, to increase the security on the channel that allowed access within the Orbetello lagoon to boats coming from the sea. Further strengthening of the coastal fortification was carried out during the Napoleonic period, when an attack by British ships was rejected from the tower.
During the nineteenth century, the coastal tower passed temporarily to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany before the Unification of Italy, an event that handed over the defensive structure to the Guardia di Finanza, which made it the seat of the customs.
In the first half of the last century the tower was abandoned and sold to private individuals, later becoming the residence of the writer Guelfo Civinini.
During the Second World War, more precisely in 1944, the tower was mined by retreating Germans, resulting in the loss of the entire upper part of the building.
The tower of Santa Liberata is located inside a private property, where there is also the Roman villa of Santa Liberata.
Of the ancient coastal fortification, which originally had a circular plan, only the mighty shoe base is preserved with massive masonry structures covered in stone, which is what remains after the destruction of the tower during the war events of 1944. On one side on the ground floor there is a large round arched opening, which was the entrance to the added structure after its transformation into a residential building. Previously, access to the fortification was possible only through a door that opened to the mezzanine floor, which was reachable through a lost flight of external stairs that culminated with a drawbridge.
Originally the tower was built on three levels and, in the upper part, was characterized by the mortar plastered walls. The top part, without crowns, culminated with a covering roof.