Show The Name Martello The name Martello comes from Martello bay Corsica where in 1794 a single defense tower held off an English fleet for several hours The earliest known towers were built by the Mesopotamian peoples for religious purposes The Egyptians Egyptians Egyptians and Greeks had a few such structures but the defense defene tower did not come into its own until the time of the Romans They built towers on the city walls on gates and even on houses During the Middle Middle Middle Mid Mid- dle Ages each noble family maintained maintained maintained main main- a tower as a place of refuge in time of war These were very high and often isolated with a small entrance |