What are the walls on a castle called?

In medieval castles, the area surrounded by a curtain wall, with or without towers, is known as the bailey. The outermost walls with their integrated bastions and wall towers together make up the enceinte or main defensive line enclosing the site.

What are the square things on castle walls called?

Battlements were the square-shaped part of the walls around the top of the castle.

What is battlements in a castle?

Definition of battlement : a parapet with open spaces that surmounts a wall and is used for defense or decoration.

What are the turrets on a castle called?

In architecture, a turret (from Italian: torretta, little tower; Latin: turris, tower) is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle.

Where are the battlements on a castle?

The battlements are usually placed on top of the outer main castle walls at the entrance but can be added to any part of a castle’s main walls, including towers.

What is a castle parapet?

A parapet fortification (known as a breastwork when temporary) is a wall of stone, wood or earth on the outer edge of a defensive wall or trench, which shelters the defenders. In medieval castles, they were often crenellated. In later artillery forts, parapets tend to be higher and thicker.

What are the protective bits of wall on the battlements called?

Sometimes crenels are also called embrasures. Between the crenels were solid upright forms called merlons. These sections of the battlement provided protection while soldiers were firing arrows or other weapons out from the crenels.

What are battlements in architecture?

battlement, the parapet of a wall consisting of alternating low portions known as crenels, or crenelles (hence crenellated walls with battlements), and high portions called merlons.

What are the pointy things on castles called?

The spires are essentially just big spikes atop the turrets; they may have lighting rods, weather vanes, radio antennae, flags or other decorative features attached. Or they can be just big spikes – what makes them spires is that they are above the roof of the turrets and pointy.

What is the walkway on top of a castle wall called?

A chemin de ronde (French, “round path”‘ or “patrol path”; French pronunciation: ​[ʃəmɛ̃ də ʁɔ̃d]), also called an allure, alure or, more prosaically, a wall-walk, is a raised protected walkway behind a castle battlement.

What are those things on top of castle walls?

In architecture, a battlement is a structure on top of castle or fortress walls that protects from attack. Historically, battlements were usually narrow walls at the top of the outermost walls of a castle. Battlements have several important parts. The short, topmost part of the wall was called the parapet.

What is the difference between a parapet and a battlement?

Also called crenellation, a battlement is really a parapet with open spaces for the castle-protectors to shoot cannons or other weaponry. The raised portions of the battlement are called merlons. The notched openings are called embrasure or crenels.

What is a crenellated parapet?

Crenellation is a feature of defensive architecture, most typically found on the battlements of medieval castles. A battlement is a low, defensive parapet. The act of crenellation is the cutting of crenels into a previously solid and straight parapet wall.

What is a crenellated wall?

adjective [usually ADJECTIVE noun] In a castle, a crenellated wall has gaps in the top or openings through which to fire at attackers.

What is the walkway of a wall called?

Alure (Wall Walk) The walkway along the higher and interior part of a wall which often gives access to the higher floors of towers within the wall.

What is the entryway to a castle called?

A portcullis (from Old French porte coleice, “sliding gate”) is a heavy vertically-closing gate typically found in medieval fortifications, consisting of a latticed grille made of wood, metal, or a combination of the two, which slides down grooves inset within each jamb of the gateway.

What is a parapet on a castle?

1 : a wall, rampart, or elevation of earth or stone to protect soldiers The invaders fired arrows over the castle’s parapet. 2 : a low wall or railing to protect the edge of a platform, roof, or bridge. — called also parapet wall.

What is the difference between ramparts and battlements?

In other words: A castle wall is a rampart. A lesser defending wall, such as a fence, is a parapet. A protective stone parapet on top of a rampart with crossbow grooves and openings is a battlement.

What is a merlon in a castle?

merlon (plural merlons) (architecture, military, historical) Any of the upright projections between the embrasures of a battlement, originally for archers to shield behind while shooting arrows over the embrasures, or through loopholes in the merlons.