A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city,town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers,bastions and gates for access to the city. From ancient to modern times,they were used to enclose settlements. Generally,these are referred to as city walls or town walls,although there were also walls,such as the Great Wall of China,Walls of Benin,Hadrian's Wall,Anastasian Wall,and the Atlantic Wall,which extended far beyond the borders of a city and were used to enclose regions or mark territorial boundaries. In mountainous terrain,defensive walls such as letzis were used in combination with castles to seal valleys from potential attack. Beyond their defensive utility,many walls also had important symbolic functions –representing the status and independence of the communities they embraced.
Kotor,historically known as Cattaro,is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative center of Kotor Municipality.
The Bay of Kotor,also known as the Boka,is a winding bay of the Adriatic Sea in southwestern Montenegro and the region of Montenegro concentrated around the bay. It is also the southernmost part of the historical region of Dalmatia. The bay has been inhabited since antiquity. Its well-preserved medieval towns of Kotor,Risan,Tivat,Perast,Prčanj and Herceg Novi,along with their natural surroundings,are major tourist attractions. The Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979. Its numerous Orthodox and Catholic churches and monasteries attract numerous religious pilgrims and other visitors.
Peschiera del Garda is a town and comune in the province of Verona,in Veneto,Italy. When Lombardy-Venetia was under Austrian rule,Peschiera was the northwest anchor of the four fortified towns constituting the Quadrilatero. The fortress is on an island in the river Mincio at its outlet from Lake Garda.
Risan is a town in the Bay of Kotor,Montenegro. It traces its origins to the ancient settlement of Rhizon,the oldest settlement in the Bay of Kotor.
A bastion fort or trace italienne is a fortification in a style that evolved during the early modern period of gunpowder when the cannon came to dominate the battlefield. It was first seen in the mid-fifteenth century in Italy. Some types,especially when combined with ravelins and other outworks,resembled the related star fort of the same era.
Palmanova is a town and comune (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Udine in Friuli-Venezia Giulia,northeast Italy. The town is an example of a star fort of the late Renaissance,built up by the Venetian Republic in 1593.
The Montenegrin Littoral,historically known as the Littoral or the Maritime,is the littoral or coastline region of Montenegro which borders the Adriatic Sea. The littoral was lost to Austria and Turkey during its collapse due to Ottoman invasion - but it was regained in 1878 and 1918 following the Serbian-Montenegrin victories in the Russo-Turkish War and World War 1 respectively.
The architecture of Montenegro is a mixture of many influences,from Roman and Venetian to Ottoman and modern times.
Venetian Albania was the official term for several possessions of the Republic of Venice in the southeastern Adriatic,encompassing coastal territories primarily in present-day southern Montenegro and partially in northern Albania.
The Fortezza is the citadel of the city of Rethymno in Crete,Greece. It was built by the Venetians in the 16th century,and was captured by the Ottomans in 1646. By the early 20th century,many houses were built within the citadel. These were demolished after World War II,leaving only a few historic buildings within the Fortezza. Today,the citadel is in good condition and is open to the public.
The Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor is a World Heritage Site located in Montenegro that was inscribed in 1979. It encompasses the old town of Kotor,the fortifications of Kotor,and the surrounding region of the inner Bay of Kotor.
The Walled City of Jajce is a medieval fortified nucleus of Jajce in Bosnia and Herzegovina,with Jajce Citadel high above town on top of pyramidal-shaped steep hill,enclosed with approximately 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) long defensive walls,. It is one of the best preserved fortified capitals of the Bosnian Kingdom,the last stronghold before the kingdom dissolved under the pressure of military advancement at the onset of Ottoman Empire takeover.
The Walls of Dubrovnik are a series of defensive stone walls surrounding the city of Dubrovnik in southern Croatia. Ramparts were built in the outlying areas of the city,including the mountain slopes as part of a set of statues from 1272. The existing city walls were constructed mainly during the 13th–17th centuries. The walls run an uninterrupted course of approximately 1,940 metres (6,360 ft) in length,encircling most of the old city,and reach a maximum height of about 25 metres (82 ft).
Galle Fort,in the Bay of Galle on the southwest coast of Sri Lanka,was built first in 1588 by the Portuguese,then extensively fortified by the Dutch during the 17th century from 1649 onwards. It is a historical,archaeological and architectural heritage monument,which even after more than 432 years maintains a polished appearance,due to extensive reconstruction work done by Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka.
The siege of Cattaro was fought between a British Royal Naval detachment and Montenegrin forces under Captain William Hoste,John Harper and Petar I Petrović-Njegošrespectively and the French garrison under command of Jean-Joseph Gauthier of the mountain fortress of Cattaro. The siege lasted from 14 October 1813 to 3 January 1814 during the Adriatic campaign of the Napoleonic Wars when the French surrendered. The engagement was fought in the Adriatic Sea for possession of the important fortress of Cattaro.
The fortifications of Heraklion are a series of defensive walls and other fortifications which surround the city of Heraklion in Crete,Greece. The first city walls were built in the Middle Ages,but they were completely rebuilt by the Republic of Venice. The fortifications managed to withstand the second longest siege in history for 21 years,before the city fell to the Ottomans in 1669.
The Castle of Methoni is a medieval fortification in the port town of Methoni,Messenia,in southwestern Greece. The castle of Methoni occupies the whole area of the cape and the southwestern coast to the small islet that has also been fortified with an octagonal tower and is protected by the sea on its three sides. Its north part,the one that looks to land,is covered by a heavily fortified acropolis. A deep moat separates the castle from the land and communication was achieved by a wooden bridge. The Venetians built on the ancient battlements and added on and repaired it during both periods that they occupied the castle.
Venetian Works of Defence between the 16th and 17th centuries:Stato da Terra –Western Stato da Mar is a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising six bastion forts built by the Republic of Venice on its mainland domains and its Domains of the Sea.
