Architecture of the tower
While the square prism of the tower visually stands out (three floors plus terrace over a vaulted semi-basement and lower cistern), MARQ excavations confirm it forms an original construction unit with the portico and cistern, featuring an asymmetric talus (alambor) of 2.40 m only on the exterior South and West facades.
A free-standing, square, three-storey tower
Torre Sarrió follows the typology characteristic of the defence towers of the Alicante huerta: a free-standing square prism, with three usable floors and an upper crenelated terrace. It rises over a vaulted semi-basement beneath which, a unique documented case, appears a second chamber with no apparent connection to the one above.
The asymmetric talus base (alambor), present only on the South and West exterior facades at a height of 2.40 m, wraps the semi-basement. MARQ excavations (ARPA Patrimonio) demonstrated that the tower, vestibule and cistern were created as a unitary 16th-century project, explaining why the North and East walls descend vertically integrated with the house. The first floor stands two metres above the ground and connects with the cistern through a trapdoor.
Schematic section
Informative diagram; not an official plan.
Talus, ashlar and loopholes
The front view clearly reveals the three registers of the wall: the stone talus wrapping the semi-basement, the panel of ashlar and small ashlar with reinforced corners and the small loopholes aligned vertically that lit and defended the interior. Barely hinted at along the crown, the springs of machicolations and sentry box.
How the tower defended itself
Talus base
Sloping thickening that wraps the foot of the wall. It increases structural stability, hinders approach to the tower and deflects projectiles fired from the ground.
Machicolations
Corbelled overhangs at the top of the walls with vertical openings, used for zenithal fire: stones, boiling water or oil poured onto attackers at the foot of the building.
Loopholes / arrow slits
Narrow, splayed openings that allow covering fire with crossbow or firearm while giving maximum protection to the defender.
Few openings on lower floors
The lower floors have only minimal openings —loopholes and a raised door— for safety. Lighting is resolved on the upper floors.
Materials
The masonry combines two techniques in local stone from the Sierra de San Julián (Serra Grossa): ashlar —dressed stone laid in regular courses— at corners, reinforcements and the West talus (where the 1594 foundation inscription is carved); and rubble masonry on intermediate wall panels. Furthermore, MARQ Trench 4 confirmed the use of dried Posidonia oceanica (seagrass) in the vault haunches to lighten structural load and provide thermal insulation.
Spiral staircase
The spiral staircase starts to the left of the entrance and turns counter-clockwise. Along its course it has two south-facing windows, a splayed opening on the ground floor, two east-facing loopholes and a west window. The terrace is reached through a rear sentry box, from which visibility is kept toward other towers in the network.
The attached house
The vestibule, featuring a wide segmental arch on Tuscan piers, rests directly on the foundation of the tower and underground cistern, proving that both were conceived synchronously in the 16th century. Restoration revealed a pebbled pavement in front of the door, similar to that of El Ciprés chapel, which embraces the mouth of the cistern.
Though heavily altered, the doors of the cellar and the cup —where baskets of grapes were tipped— can still be seen: a reminder of the tower's link with wine production —Fondillón and Monastrell— that sustained the estate.
Marks and details
The complex preserves stonemasons' marks —a «T» on a jamb, an «X» on the talus—, small vertical lines next to the second-floor window that also appear on Torre Ciprés and might be a manual tally, and many holes at 1.70 m traditionally attributed to executions. On the cellar façade, before restoration, traces possibly corresponding to ship graffiti were documented.
Interior gallery
Views of the restored interior of Torre Sarrió
Technical file
- Chronology
- 1553–1594 (PERE LLOPIS 1594 inscription)
- Builder / promoter
- Pere Llopis
- Typology
- Defence tower with integrated portico and cistern
- Plan
- Square · 3 floors + terrace
- Base
- Asymmetric talus (2.40 m on South and West)
- Masonry
- Ashlar from Sierra de San Julián and rubble
- Defensive elements
- Machicolations, loopholes, raised entrance
- Staircase
- Spiral, counter-clockwise
- Ownership
- Public (Alicante City Hall)
- Protection
- BIC (R-I-51-0009729 / GVA 03.32.014-032)
- Restoration
- 2010 · Màrius Bevià (arch.) — 2021 (2nd phase)
- Museography
- Rocamora Diseño y Arquitectura · 2026
Terms to understand the tower
Technical vocabulary of fortification and of the 16th-century Mediterranean historical context.
- Talus
- Sloped thickening of the lower part of a wall that increases structural stability and deflects projectiles fired at the base of the tower.
- Machicolation
- Corbelled overhang at the top of the wall with vertical openings, from which defenders could drop stones, boiling oil or fire on attackers at the foot of the tower.
- Loophole / Arrow slit
- Narrow, splayed opening in the wall, wider inside than out, allowing crossbow or firearm fire with maximum protection.
- Ashlar
- Stone masonry made of dressed blocks with flat faces and sharp edges, laid in regular courses. Reserved for corners, talus and reinforcements.
- Rubble masonry
- Masonry built with undressed or roughly shaped stones bound with mortar. Used in the wall panels between the reinforcing ashlars.
- Barbary
- Historical name for the North African coast (present-day Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya). The Barbary corsairs, based in ports like Algiers or Tunis, ravaged the western Mediterranean between the 16th and 18th centuries.
- Smoke signal (ahumada)
- Smoke signal sent by day from a tower to alert neighbouring towers —and, in a chain, Santa Bárbara Castle and the city— to the presence of corsair ships.
- Fondillón
- Aged red wine made in Alicante's Huerta from over-ripened Monastrell grapes. Emblematic product of the wine production that sustained the estates associated with the towers.