Il faro dell’isola del Tino. Trasformazione di una struttura di difesa in riferimento per la navigazione

Abstract

[EN] The special and unique position of the Tino Island in the Gulf of La Spezia, with its complex orography, has strengthen his attitude of sighting, protecting and controlling the sea over centuries. Nothing can escape the view enjoyed from the top of the island, which on the clearest days catches a stretch of sea that goes from Livorno to Genoa. This was certainly noticed by the Republic of Genoa’s engineers around 1600, who probably built the current base of the lighthouse that still exists today. This tower was part of the program to strengthen the defense of the Ligurian’s eastern coast. The structure, of which there are no detailed studies, has a remarkable typological similarity with the ruins of the only surviving coeval tower, Torre Scola, not far from Palmaria Island. It’s not certain that the tower on Tino Island had an offensive character, because its extremely high position relative to the water level would be too difficult to shoot an enemy on the sea, but it is still possible to see defensive features that could be used if the structure had been besieged. What’s certain is that his vocation of control over the sea was never lost, even if Napoleon wanted to transfer this facility to the nearby Palmaria Island. We owe its renovation to the Savoy government, in particular to King Carlo Alberto, who first wanted to build a lighthouse in 1839, adding a small tower to the Genoese structure. Then in 1884, the second lighthouse was built, higher than the first, which can still be seen today and that is still used for the light signals. These structures were added over time to house the lighthouse’s staff. Today the island is closed to the public, as it is the property of the Italian Navy, and perhaps, thanks to this, it has kept intact the features of its architecture surrounded by nature, as it certainly was in the century of its construction.