The sorrounding
Torre Matilde
Following the advancement of the coastline, the castle of Viareggio (castrum de via regia, built in 1172 and the only access to the sea of Lucca from 1441 with the landing of the mouth of the Selice, the current Burlamacca canal) was in fact located at around 600 m in the interior and was no longer effective in protecting the landing on the coast, exposed with its warehouses to the attacks of Barbary pirates. The Lucca government therefore decided to build a tower on the sea on June 5, 1534.
The Tower in the early 1900s
The construction of the new tower was carried out using as a material the squared stone proofs that could be obtained from the partial demolition of the old castle. To finance the works it was decided to tax, for six years, with some extraordinary taxes, the goods that arrived in Viareggio. From its summit, the arrival of Emperor Charles V, who landed at Viareggio to meet an emissary of Pope Paul III between 12 and 18 September 1541, was greeted with blows of fire. The construction was completed in 1542 and 1544 there was added a fortification wall of the village of Viareggio, built around the landing. A garrison of fifteen men was installed there. In 1546-1549 there was built next to it the residence of the "beach commissioner", in charge of controlling the village and the movement of goods. The residence was connected to the tower by a loggia.
At the beginning of the seventeenth century the tower was raised by a floor and surmounted by a small bell tower in which two bells were housed.
After 1703 the public clock on the façade of the beach commissary's house was moved to the top of the tower, whose function was initially commissioned by a local resident paid by the community through an annual tax of four dollars per family; in 1748 the task passed to the guard soldiers.
On April 15, 1780, the tower was struck by lightning, which killed a guard soldier, but spared the nearby gunpowder store. In thanks for the narrow escape the "Vote of the Common" party was established, suppressed in 1808 and restored in 1821.
Following the further advancement of the coastline, the mouth of the Selice was regularized with the construction in 1788 of the Burlamacca canal, next to which a new fort was built, the Fortino on the Foce di Viareggio. The tower nevertheless maintained the function of a watchtower, for the sighting both of possible enemies at sea and of fires; the bells were also used to call the community's parliament.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the tower was used as a prison, in particular for prisoners in transit and in 1810 a turret was installed for the telegraph. In 1813, the British landed at Viareggio and occupied Lucca to retreat to the ships again following the arrival of the French, without the tower's garrison being able to offer any resistance. The commander Ippolito Zibibbi was sentenced to death, with a penalty then turned into life imprisonment, due to the lack of defense. The episode highlighted the scarce effectiveness of the tower as a military garrison and remained in fact only as a prison. In 1819 Viareggio was given the title of city and prisoners and convicts, also housed in the tower, lent their work for the construction of the dock. Between 1823 and 1847 the tower was used as "bathrooms of the convicts", while the actual prison was transferred to Camaiore. In 1850 it was used again as a prison and in 1854 there was built next to it the house for the custodian. The tower housed 6 cells, each of which could accommodate up to six inmates. It maintained this function until the Second World War.
The prison was abolished in 1945 and the tower remained closed and abandoned until 1969, with the first restoration works by the Superintendency for the environmental, architectural, artistic and historical heritage of Pisa. The restoration works were resumed in 1975 and were completed in 1982, allowing the original structure of the monument to be brought to light, altered by the numerous works of adaptation of the interior spaces to the various functions. The tower currently hosts cultural events and art exhibitions.
fonte wikipedia https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torre_Matilde