We often say that the San Michele tower of Cervia was built to protect the salt and the inhabitants from pirate raids. Actually, we should be talking about invasions of Corsairs.
This plague was spread in the early 1500s and lasted until about the middle of the 1800s. Unlike pirates, Corsairs were entitled to actions by an authorization or by the "racing license" or by the "brand letter" that were issued from a sovereign state that gave the power to board and attack enemy warships as well as merchant ships. Often the abduction of people who were taken into slavery was added to the looting actions. Part of the bounty was delivered to the commissioning state, while part was retained by the owner of the corsair ship.

Forlivesi in "Cervia cenni storici" recalls that in March 1573 a great bireme ran aground near the Savio, generating great uproar. For some time, in fact, the Turks had plundered merchants, fishermen and those who were in the area. Young people came from Ravenna who took the pirates, who in the meantime had hidden themselves in the pine forest. Another 6 were captured in Cervia and then taken to Ravenna.

In chronicles and archival documents we discover that in 1873 "pirate woods" attempted a landing on the shores of Ravenna and headed to Cervia where they robbed various farmers.

It seems that Cervia also had its own privateer. It is Angelo Puttini, actually Paolo Candoli, nicknamed Puttino, who in the Napoleonic period (the documents date back to 1811) was a deserter from the royal Italian navy and sought his fortune at sea.

The votive offerings paint this particular plague. Testimonies can be found in the Church of the Madonna del Monte in Cesena and in Rimini in the church of the Madonna delle Grazie.

To defend against privateer raids, the papal authorities erected various defense towers along the Adriatic coast, including our Torre San Michele.