Comino was for a long time uninhabited and was used by corsair pirates as a resting place until in the 17th century the Knights of St. John constructed the Santa Maria Tower to secure the island. This tower is in use by the Maltese military until this very day. It's set in a very impressive location on a clifftop and seems more like a midsize fortress until you approach it and realise it's rather small. Like many other locations in Malta it can be seen in the recent film ''The Count of Monte Christo''. During the British reign a leprosy colony was established on Comino because of its remote location; it was abandoned and its building is now used by the locals as convenient housing.For more information, visit the VisitMalta tourist information site for Comino and Gozo
http://www.visitmalta.com/en/gozo_comino/goz_comino/goz_comino.html. http://wikitravel.org/en/Comino