St Agatha's Tower (The Red Tower)
Mellieha
Malta
Distance 9km Climb 280m
Wednesday 20 September 2017
I was not going to write this walk up but as I found it really interesting I have decided to included it. Today was just going to be a short walk around the area where we were staying to get a little geography of the place.
We left the hotel and walked west to the main road that runs from Mellieha to Cirkewwa Ferry Terminal. It was very warm and sunny. Warmer than we were used too, not to worry we had sun cream, hats and sunglasses.
Walking by the side of the road uphill, northwards, we turned left, west, when we reached the roundabout. The road along here is narrow and twists its way uphill, passing St Agatha's Tower also known as The Red Tower.
St Agatha's Tower only cost a few euro to go in and so we took the opportunity to visit and have a look around it was a really interesting place. The information we found in the Tower gave us a good base of knowledge for other information we were to find on our other walks round Malta. The history shows that the Knights may have built and used the Tower but it was also used in the Second World War.
It was very windy on the top of the Tower, but it gave us great views over this part of the island.
Looking north and north west we could see Comino and Gozo, island to the north of Malta. We were surprised at how close we were to these islands.
St Agatha's Tower (The Red Tower), has been fully restored and I would recommend it is well worth a visit, if you are in the area. To the north east is Ahrax Tower (The White Tower), we would be visiting this Tower later on, on our holiday.
Leaving St Agatha's Tower, we continued along the road as it climbs gently westward.
As we walked along, looking left we could see the cliffs and caves of the coast as it stretched to our south.
We would be walking this road again later in the week.
To our right, north, Anne spotted an area on Comino that looked like a bright blue bridge between the islands. Checking out the map and using binoculars we could see it was the famous Blue Lagoon, another place we would visit later on in our holiday.
Continuing on the road we could see in the distance that we were approaching a radar station.
On reaching the radar station, apparently the most western point on Malta, we turned right and followed the cliff edge along a rough path that disappeared in places, north eastwards. Looking north west we could see the cliffs on the western side of Gozo.
As we continued north east along a rough path across an area called garrigue when the Cirkewwa Ferry Terminal came into sight with Comino lying behind.
On the garrigue we saw loads of purple flowers which I believe are called ground thistles, which attracted bees and butterflies.
We found ourselves on a steep rough stony path that dropped down the side of a small valley.
That ended at a rough road, turning to our right. After a few meters we turned left off the road onto another path that continued to follow the coast line, there were a few small fields in the area. As the path continued it climbed a little and started to became rougher.
As we continued moving easterly, we lost the path and found ourselves walking by a stone wall next to a small ploughed field. Following the wall we headed towards the cliff, reaching another low wall that ran from our right to left on the top of the cliff. We could see a path on the other side of this wall. Jumping the wall and a single barbedwire fence we joined the path that took us down to Paradise Bay.
We had a short break sitting on a wall above Paradise Bay, we would be here again in a few days time. Southwards we could see St Agatha's Tower.
After our break we headed south down a narrow road, the road turned east. It dropped down a steep dip towards Wied Musa then climbs out.
On reaching the main road that runs from Cirkewwa Ferry Terminal to Mellieha we turned right, heading south. The path by the road climbs slightly. To our right we could again see St Agatha's Tower.
After the short climb the road crests the rise as it reaches the roundabout we had passed earlier on our walk. We crossed the road and headed down hill towards Mellieha from the roundabout.
It did not take us long to reach our junction and turn left.west, towards the hotel.
It had been a good walk, and we now had a good idea of the local geography. The information we had picked up at St Agatha's Tower was really interesting and we had covered 9km with a 280m climb.
We were now looking forward to more walks in Malta.
More to follow
Boz North
Details correct at time of walking.
If you have enjoyed reading my walk or found it useful you may also like to read other walks I have done in Malta or other areas. Please check out the links on the right hand side.
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