Majorcan watch towers become EU heritage

The project, the brainchild of an Italian museums coordinator from Piamonte, is designed to upgrade what were once strategic military look-out towers dotted at defense locations around the Mediterranean, and convert them into interactive museums which provide the visiting public with historical information about their origin and architectural significance, an environmental update on the importance of their immediate surroundings, and other culturally linked background material.

The restoration programme is still in its infancy with application still to be officially made to the European Union for specific amounts of funding. Spearheading the coastal fortification scheme are professionals from the Osola Museum Assocation in the region of Piamonte; the Council of Majorca's Environment department is an associate member. The basis of the ambitious undertaking is not just to provide structural reform, but also convert the towers into meaningful points of reference for local communites, visitors and students - providing the means for the fortifications to become education centres in their own right. The Council of Majorca has given preference in its choice to coast watch towers that are on public land, which are in a reasonable state of repair and which offer panoramic views. The Council has been working for a year on making an inventory of such structures within its jurisdiction.