Santa Maria delle Grazie Tower was a fortification

Fortification

Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defence in warfare and military bases. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs...

 on the island of Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

. It stood above the shore to the east of Grand Harbour

Grand Harbour

Grand Harbour is a natural harbour on the island of Malta. It has been used as a harbour since at least Phoenician times...

, close to the present day town of Xghajra

Xghajra

Xgħajra is a small village in Malta on the coast, about halfway between Valletta and Marsaskala. Its local football club is known as the Xghajra Tornadoes F.C...

. The tower was built by the Knights of Malta

Knights Hospitaller

The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...

 in 1620 during the reign of Grand Master

Grand Master (order)

Grand Master is the typical title of the supreme head of various orders of knighthood, including various military orders, religious orders and civil orders such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Orange Order...

  Fra Alof de Wignacourt

Alof de Wignacourt

Fra' Alof de Wignacourt was the 54th Grand Master of the Order of Malta, from 1601 to 1622. He was of the langue of France. His reign was notable for the construction of a number of coastal fortifications , and of the aqueduct that brought water from the plateau above Rabat to Valletta...

, and is one of the set of Wignacourt towers

Wignacourt towers

The Wignacourt towers are a series of fortifications on the island of Malta built by the Knights of Malta.The initial towers of this type were built under the auspices of Grand Master Fra Aloph de Wignacourt...

.

The tower was demolished to clear the field of fire of the nearby Della Grazie Battery

Della Grazie Battery

Della Grazie Battery is a fortification by the British on the island of Malta. It stands above the shore to the east of Grand Harbour, close to the present day town of Xghajra. Construction started in 1888 and was completed in March 1893. The battery was constructed to take advantage of the...

, construction of which began in 1888, by the British

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

. Nothing of the original tower remains.