Situated 130m above sea level on a hill in Nadur, is Ta’ Kenuna Tower, a semaphore tower built by the British in 1848. It is one of three semaphore towers in Malta, the others being in Għargħur and Għaxaq; its purpose to pass on signals to ships and other posts via a telegraphy link between the two main islands, Gozo and Malta, and to communicate with the other two towers. The towers were made up of three floors, each containing a single room, all linked together with the roof by a spiral staircase. Due to the introduction of the electrical telegraph the semaphore system became disused and in 1883 Ta’ Kenuna Tower closed.
In 2005 the tower was restored and on its roof installed a beacon to warn ships of their vicinity to land, along with a number of communication antennae. When visiting the tower one can ask permission from the tower’s watchman to go up to the covered roof and experience a panoramic view of the Three Islands. Surrounding the tower is a small elegant botanical garden containing a number of endemic plants.
