Monemvasia is a town and municipality in Laconia, Greece. The town is located on a tied island off the east coast of the Peloponnese, surrounded by the Myrtoan Sea. The island is connected to the mainland by a tombolo 400 metres (1,300 ft) in length. Its area consists mostly of a large plateau some 100 m (330 ft) above sea level, up to 300 m (980 ft) wide and 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) long. Founded in the sixth century, and thus one of the oldest continually-inhabited fortified towns in Europe, the town is the site of a once-powerful medieval fortress, and was at one point one of the most important commercial centres in the Eastern Mediterranean. The town's walls and many Byzantine churches remain as testaments to the town's history. Today, the seat of the municipality of Monemvasia is the town of Molaoi.
The Belgrade Fortress, consists of the old citadel and Kalemegdan Park on the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, in an urban area of modern Belgrade, Serbia. Located in Belgrade's municipality of Stari Grad, the fortress constitutes the specific historical core of the city. As one of the most important representatives of Belgrade's cultural heritage, it was originally protected right after World War II, among the first officially declared cultural monuments in Serbia. The fortress was declared a Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1979, and is protected by the Republic of Serbia. It is the most visited tourist attraction in Belgrade, with Skadarlija being the second. Since the admission is free, it is estimated that the total number of visitors is over 2 million yearly.
Stari Grad is a fortress near the city of Užice, in central Serbia. Today in ruins, it is an example of typical medieval Serbian architecture. Historians believe it was built in the second half of the 14th century to control movement along nearby roads, and the town of Užice. Stari Grad was declared Protected Monument of Culture in 1983, and it is protected by Republic of Serbia. Though in ruins, the fortress is considered a symbol of Užice.
The Ram Fortress is a 15th century fort situated on a steep slope on the right bank of the Danube, in the village of Ram, municipality of Veliko Gradište, eastern Serbia. The fortress is located on a rock, which is from the northeast side tilted towards the Danube. It is assumed that the city was built on the opposite side from Haram fortress, which was located across the Danube and left no remnants. The remains of the city are in good condition.
The Battle of Čegar, also known as the Battle of Kamenica was a battle of the First Serbian Uprising between the Serbian Revolutionaries and Ottoman forces near the Niš Fortress on 31 May 1809. Fought on the Čegar hill situated between the villages of Donji Matejevac and Kamenica near Niš in what is today southeastern Serbia, it ended in an Ottoman victory. Commander Stevan Sinđelić famously blew up the gunpowder magazine when the Ottomans overtook his trench, killing everyone in it. Skulls of dead Serb rebels were embedded into the Skull Tower.
The architecture of Serbia has a long, rich and diverse history. Some of the major European style from Roman to Postmodern are demonstrated, including renowned examples of Raška, Serbo-Byzantine with its revival, Morava, Baroque, Classical and Modern architecture, with prime examples in Brutalism and Streamline Moderne.
The fortifications of Kotor are an integrated historical fortification system that protected the medieval town of Kotor containing ramparts, towers, citadels, gates, bastions, forts, cisterns, a castle, and ancillary buildings and structures. They incorporate military architecture of Illyria, the Byzantine Empire, Venice, and Austria. Together with the old town and its natural surroundings the fortifications were inscribed in the list of World Heritage Sites in 1979 labelled Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor and represent the only such site of cultural significance in Montenegro.
Niš Fortress is a fortress in the city of Niš, Serbia. It is a complex and important cultural and historical monument. It rises on the right bank of the Nišava River, overlooking the area inhabited for longer than two millennia. It was protected by law in May 1948 as it was declared a cultural site of great significance. The current condition of the fortress lists it as one of the best preserved fortifications of this kind in Serbia as well as on the Balkan Peninsula.
Soko Grad is a former town and medieval fortification near Ljubovija, western Serbia. The fortress was notable for never being conquered by an army.
Bač Fortress is a medieval fortress in Vojvodina, Serbia. It is located in the town of Bač, in the Bačka region.
Žrnov or Žrnovan (Жрнован) was a medieval fortress on the highest top of the Avala Mountain, at 511 metres (1,677 ft), in Belgrade, Serbia. The Ancient Romans had built an outpost there, and later the Serbs expanded it into a fortress. It was completely demolished in 1934 to make the way for the Monument to the Unknown Hero.
Kruševac Fortress or City of Prince Lazar was a medieval fortified town in Kruševac, Serbia, former capital of Prince Lazar. The city housed the court church, Lazarica. Today, all that remains of the town are ruins.
Niš, a city in Serbia's Nišava District, is one of the oldest cities in the Balkans and Europe, and has from ancient times been considered a gateway between the East and the West. The Paleo-Balkan Thracians inhabited the area in the Iron Age, and Triballians dwelled here prior to the Celtic invasion in 279 BC which established the Scordisci as masters of the region. Naissus was among the cities taken in the Roman conquest in 75 BC. The Romans built the Via Militaris in the 1st century, with Naissus being one of the key towns. Niš is also notable as the birthplace of Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman Emperor and the founder of Constantinople, as well as Constantius III. It is home to one of Serbia's oldest Christian churches dating to the 4th century in the suburb of Mediana.
The fortifications of the town of Rhodes are shaped like a defensive crescent around the medieval town and consist mostly of a fortification composed of a huge wall made of an embankment encased in stone, equipped with scarp, bastions, moat, counterscarp and glacis. The portion of fortifications facing the harbour is instead composed of a crenellated wall. On the moles, towers and defensive forts are found.
Part of series of articles upon Archaeology of Kosovo
Novo Brdo Fortress is a medieval Serbian fortress in Kosovo. Its ruins are located near the town of Novo Brdo, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of Pristina. The fortress was built in the late 13th century by king Stephen Uroš II Milutin of Serbia to protect gold, silver, iron and lead mines which were abundant throughout the area. Novo Brdo was famous for its silver. Together with the castles of Prizren, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) to the southwest, and Prilepac, 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) to the southeast, which guard access roads to the fortress, Novo Brdo helped form a defensive complex overlooking the lucrative mining operations. Novo Brdo was at its height during the Serbian Despotate (1402–1459), when it was the most important mining area and second most important town in Serbia. A significant number of Saxon miners, Albanian Catholics and a large Ragusan merchant colony lived within the town, which was ruled by a vojvoda, but also a governor (kefalija), because it was the seat of an administrative unit of the Despotate.
Feraklos Castle, also Feraklou (Φερακλού) and Faraklenon Castle, is a ruined medieval fortress, located on an 85 m-high hill overlooking the village of Charaki on the east coast of the island of Rhodes, Greece.
Jeleč is a medieval fortification located in southwestern Serbia, 12 km south of present-day Novi Pazar, on one of the three peaks of Rogozna mountain. Today, the fortification is mostly in ruined state, however there are some well preserved parts.
Bjelaj Fortress locally known as Stari Grad Bjelaj, is a medieval town-fortress complex near the village of Bjelaj, Bosanski Petrovac, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Zindan Gate is one of the gates in the complex of Belgrade Fortress, historical core of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It was built in the time when fortifications were switching from cold weapons to artillery, and when first cannons were introduced in the defense. Finished between 1440 and 1456, due to its unique appearance among the fortress' gates, and the 1930s reconstruction and upgrade in the Romanticist style, the medieval barbican is one of the landmarks of the fortress, and one of its most recognizable parts.
