Tor tower Jelsa

Tor is a tower dating from the 4th century BC and is located on a hill south of Jelsa, 230 meters above sea level. Tor is the remains of the Illyrian tower built in the technique of dry stone walls, which was also recognized to be a Greek watchtower in the ancient past. The first person that has found, described and illustrated its stone walls, was the explorer of the Nile and the Tanganyika, Richard Francis Burton in 1873. The Tor can be reached through the north path, or the path to the east, which separates it from the old road that leads from Jelsa to the east side of the island. The tower was built with the use of so-called cyclopean blocks of stone (large). Its almost regular square shape is intriguing along with the fact that it was built on the remains of a prehistoric building. Next to the tower is a bastion which is older than the tower itself, protecting its most vulnerable side. The assumption is that the tower was already abandoned in the 3rd century BC when the Romans defeated the Illyrians.