The tower of Terzorio was built in the sixteenth century with the villagers' own money, after Barbary corsair raids had taught the place what it meant to live near the sea without a lookout. In 1561 and again in 1563 the raids of the corsair Uluç Ali had carried off young people from here, who ended up as slaves in Algiers.
What to see
You recognise the tower at once because its top is cut off at a slant: that oblique cut is its distinctive shape, and the structure, despite the centuries, has survived in excellent condition. It stands inside the village, which stretches along a hill east of the Argentina valley, among stone houses and olive groves running down towards the Santa Caterina stream.
Visiting
You look at it from outside, walking the lanes of the old centre: a few minutes are enough, because the village is small and the tower is a step away from the parish church of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, whose first building dates from 1444. There are no opening times and no tickets.
Our editors' tip
Reach the tower in the late afternoon and then turn round: from here you understand why a lookout was needed at exactly this point, with the coast open in front and the valley behind.