The Galatena River Tower is one of the many coastal watchtowers of Salento built by Charles V, in the sixteenth century, to defend the territory from the assaults of the Saracens. In the place where the tower is located there is a source of fresh water, also known by pirates who often attacked the area for supplies. Charles V decided to protect this spring by having the tower built. The tower had a truncated pyramidal structure with a square base with angular bastions with a pentagonal plan and a height of 16 meters. Today only the four angular bastions remain: for this reason the tower is also called "of the Four columns".
