La Torre della Maddalena is a coastal tower located in Monte Argentario. Its location is on a hill overlooking the sea, along the western shore of the Argentario promontory, accessible from the coastal scenic road.
The coastal fortified structure was built by the Sienese during the fifteenth century as a place from which to perform sighting functions and active and passive defense along the stretch of sea west of the promontory: at the time it was one of the landmarks of the long coastal defense system the southern coast of the Republic of Siena.
In the second half of the sixteenth century, the complex passed to the Spaniards who carried out renovations and extensions, giving the pre-existing structure a further fortified appearance, adapting the tower to the most imposing defensive system of the State of the Presidios, being able to communicate with the Torre delle Cannelle east that with the Tower of Capo d’Uomo to the north, from whose dominant position it was put in communication with the other towers located to the north-west and from there not visible.
The coastal fortification served as a sighting, defense and offense until the early nineteenth century, when the Argentario became part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. In 1834 it was decided to definitively abandon it from its original military functions and, in 1867, it was finally sold to private individuals.
La Torre della Maddalena looks like an architectural structure with a quadrangular plan, resting on a mighty base with a cordoned shoe.
The external masonry structures are predominantly dull, although several blocks of facing stone, dating back to the period of construction, remain visible. At different heights there are some loopholes, used in the past to perform active defense functions; the access door, on the mezzanine floor, was reached via an external flight of stairs.
The upper part of the tower is rather irregular, with some architectural elements that emerge from the summit sighting terrace, which in the past almost certainly constituted the grafts for the machicolations.
On the sides facing the ground, the defensive structure is further fortified, thanks to the high walls that surround it, constituting in fact a small fortress, which was added during the redevelopment works carried out by the Spaniards in the second half of the sixteenth century, guaranteeing further margins security at the coastal tower.
