Fortification (architectural elements)

thumb|Gate from Bucharest (Romania) thumb|right|Art Nouveau gate of [[Castel Béranger (Paris)]] thumb|Candi bentar, a typical [[Indonesian gate that is often found on the islands of Java and Bali]]

fortification used to protect an area from potential aggressors

thumb|right|Drawing of a bastion

In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a bearing weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the structure. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger" in England. thumb|An interior look at the roof of a corbelled house in South Africa The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or parapet, has been used since Neolithic (New Stone Age) times. It

thumb|A mid-19th century artillery casemate at Fort Knox (Maine)|Fort Knox, Maine.

thumb|Buttresses of Miag-ao Church, [[Philippines]]

protective weapon mount or firing position

267px|thumb|right|An illustration of Devonshire Redoubt, Bermuda, 1614

defensive wall between two towers of a castle, fortress or town

thumb|right|Diagram showing upward sloped glacis A glacis (, ) in military engineering is an artificial slope as part of a medieval castle or in early modern fortresses. They may be constructed of earth as a temporary structure or of stone in more permanent structure. More generally, a glacis is any slope, natural or artificial, which fulfils the above requirements. The etymology of this French word suggests a slope made dangerous with ice, hence the relationship with glacier.

thumb|Two ravelins (top left of image) in Goes, The Netherlands thumb|Ravelin in the Dutch town of Bergen op Zoom thumb|300px|Ravelin protecting the entrance of Fort McHenry, [[Baltimore, Maryland]] thumb|The Moers fortifications, designed by [[Simon Stevin, where ravelins appear as triangular shapes surrounded by water, with wall (shown in dark green) facing outwards with no wall on the inner side.]]

thumb|Battlements on the Great Wall of China right|thumb|Decorative battlements in Persepolis right|thumb|Drawing of battlements on a tower

engineering work created through the moving or processing of parts of the earth's surface

thumb|right| US Army 16-inch gun M1919 on barbette mount M1919; this was a high-angle mount with elevation to 65°. The photo was taken at Fort Duvall in 1928.

thumb|Drawing of a bartizan

thumb|400px|A caponier A caponier is a type of defensive structure in a fortification. Fire from this point could cover the ditch beyond the curtain wall to deter any attempt to storm the wall. The word originates from the French '', meaning "chicken coop" (a capon'' is a castrated male chicken).

architectural element, fortification feature

length of bank or wall forming part of the defensive boundary of a fortification

thumb|Embankment dam with two berms

outwork fortification

modular concrete or plastic barrier

thumb|right|The southern entrance to York, Micklegate Bar

small protective fortification, such as an earthwork

metal strips with sharp edges whose purpose is to prevent passage by humans

gabion primarily used for flood control and military fortifications

position from which soldiers can watch enemy movements

thumb|A reduit in the German fortress of Mainz A reduit is a fortified structure such as a citadel or a keep into which the defending troops can retreat when the outer defences are breached. The term is also used to describe an area of a country that, through a ring of heavy fortifications or through enhancing through fortification the defences offered by natural features such as mountains, will be defended even when the rest of the country is occupied by a hostile power.

thumb|right|A redan as part of a fortification thumb|Saint Anthony's Battery in Qala, [[Malta, with a redan containing the entrance]] thumb| "Cascalho" Redan in the city walls of Elvas, [[Portugal]]

thumb|Faussebraye of Château de Brest thumb|17th century illustration showing a cross-section of the fortifications of Groenlo. From left to right: [[counterscarp, covertway, ditch, faussebraye and the main defensive wall.]]

thumb|right|Counterscarp of a Napoleon era polygonal fort ([[Fort Napoleon, Ostend). Counterscarps had become vertical by this time. The housing at the bottom of the ditch is a caponier from where the defenders could fire on attackers that managed to climb down into the ditch, while being protected from cannon fire themselves.]]

type of elevated fortification built within an outer wall and designed to rain fire over it

masonry structural division

thumb|300px|A : Counterguard B : Couvreface (idealised graphic in which all accompanying works such as moats or glacis have been omitted) thumb|Saint Michael's Counterguard in Valletta, [[Malta.]] The counterguard (, ) is an outwork in a bastioned fortification system that usually comprises only a low rampart and which is sited in front of the actual fortress moat that runs around the bastions or ravelins. The rampart way of a counterguard is, however, so constructed and at least wide enough that it enables the positioning of guns. An additional ditch in front of it guards the work from a fron

thumb|17th century illustration showing a cross-section of the fortifications of Groenlo. From left to right: [[counterscarp, covertway, ditch, faussebraye and the main defensive wall.]] thumb|A place-of-arms on the covertway of Valletta

thumb|Diagrams of a tenaille, a tenaille augmented with a straight face (un pan coupé), and a bonnet or priest's cap (with two tenailles) outside a ravelin. thumb|St. Andrew's Tenaille in Valletta

thumb|200px|A crownwork outside a bastion 200px|thumb|Feature 'l' is a crownwork.

thumb|upright=1.2|right|Asphalt and sandbag revetment with a geotextile filter

thumb|Plan of a bastioned fortification, with re-entrant places-of-arms marked W thumb|A place-of-arms on the covertway of Valletta

300px|thumb|right|At the lower edge of the 1908 Ordnance Survey|OS map of the [[Flat Bastion in Gibraltar is an orillon covering a retired flank and the Prince Edward's Gate in the Charles V Wall.]] thumb|right|The Flat Bastion (upper) and South Bastion (lower) on the [[Charles V Wall. Each has an orillon and a retired flank.]]

300px|thumb|right|A coupure where the A2 motorway (Netherlands)|A2 motorway crosses the Diefdijk ([[Hollandic Water Line) in the Netherlands.]] thumb|right|A coupure with a shed for storing the materials used to close the coupure in Het Hogeland

part of a military fortification

thumb|300px|A Cointet-element on a beach, rigged with explosive "sausages" by an American Underwater Demolition Team. thumb|300px|Cointet-element at Colleville-sur-Mer The Cointet-element, also known as a Belgian Gate or C-element, was a heavy steel fence about wide and high, typically mounted on concrete rollers, used as a mobile anti-tank obstacle during World War II. Each individual fence element weighed about and was movable (e.g. with two horses) through the use of two fixed and one rotating roller. Its invention is attributed to a French colonel (later general), Léon-Edmond de Cointet d

thumb|Ross Castle with its surrounding bawn A bawn is the defensive wall surrounding an Irish tower house. It is the anglicised version of the Irish word bábhún (sometimes spelt badhún), possibly meaning "cattle-stronghold" or "cattle-enclosure". The Irish word for "cow" is bó and its plural is ba. The Irish word for "stronghold, enclosure" is dún, whose genitive case is dúin.

architectural defensive structure

heavily fortified gateway of a castle or a city wall

military fortification

type of fortification

thumb|300px|A : Counterguard B : Couvreface (idealised graphic in which all accompanying works such as moats or glacis have been omitted) A couvreface in fortification architecture is a small outwork that was built in front of the actual fortress ditch before bastions or ravelins. It usually just consisted of a low rampart with a breastwork that protected its defending infantry. Another ditch in front of the work guarded it from immediate frontal assault. The function of couvrefaces was to protect the faces of the higher ravelin or bastion behind it from direct artillery fire. So that the couv

type of military fortification

entrance of medieval castles

thumb|Smailholm Tower, showing the barmkin wall in the foreground Barmkin, also spelled barmekin or barnekin, is a Scots word which refers to a form of medieval and later defensive enclosure, typically found around smaller castles, tower houses, pele towers, and bastle houses in Scotland and the north of England. It has been suggested that etymologically the word may be a corruption of the word barbican or berm. The barmkin would have contained ancillary buildings, and could be used to protect cattle during raids.