A concentric castle is a castle with two or more concentric curtain walls, such that the outer wall is lower than the inner and can be defended from it. The layout was square where the terrain permitted, or an irregular polygon where curtain walls of a spur castle followed the contours of a hill.
Azuchi Castle was one of the primary castles of Oda Nobunaga located in the Azuchi neighborhood of the city of Ōmihachiman, Shiga Prefecture. The site of the castle was designated a National Historic Site in 1926, with the designation upgraded to that of a Special National Historic Site in 1952. The castle is located within the grounds of the Biwako Quasi-National Park.
The Castle of Gormaz is a large castle located in Gormaz, Spain. Its current structure was built in 965 to defend the borders of the Caliphate of Cordoba. At the time of its construction, it was the largest fortress in Europe.
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 Ark of Bukhara is a massive fortress located in the city of Bukhara, Uzbekistan, that was initially built and occupied around the 5th century AD. In addition to being a military structure, the Ark encompassed what was essentially a town that, during much of the fortress's history, was inhabited by the various royal courts that held sway over the region surrounding Bukhara. The Ark was used as a fortress until it fell to Russia in 1920. Currently, the Ark is a tourist attraction and houses museums covering its history. The museums and other restored areas include an archaeological museum, the throne room, the reception and coronation court, a local history museum, and the court mosque.
Samobor Castle is a ruined castle atop of Tepec hill in Samobor, Croatia. It lies only a 10-minute walk away from the city centre. Remains of the old castle moat are still visible, as well as the massive entrance and most of the walls.
A curtain wall is a defensive wall between fortified towers or bastions of a castle, fortress, or town.
Blagaj Fortress or Old Town of Blagaj, locally known as Stjepan-grad (Стјепан-град), or Stipan-grad, in classical times Bona (Бона), is a town-fortress complex near the town of Blagaj, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The old Blagaj Fort was built on a high, inaccessible karst hill, at an elevation of 310 metres (1,020 ft) above sea level and 266 metres (873 ft) above the source of the river Buna. Blagaj Fort is 275 metres (902 ft) above sea level. Fortress is National monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina, declared by KONS on 6 December 2003.
Part of series of articles upon Archaeology of Kosovo
Monuments of Kosovo comprise all the monuments that are located in Kosovo.
Pogragja or Podgrađe, is a village in the municipality of Gjilan in Kosovo. It is situated on the right bank of the Morava e Binçës River, at the southeast end of Kosovo Pomoravlje.
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.
Kurvingrad or Koprijan (Копријан), is a ruined fortress which sits above the town of Doljevac on the South Morava river, 11 km south of the town of Niš. The ruins are all that remain of the medieval town of Koprijan from the time of Classical antiquity; the fortress is over a thousand years old. Today, fortifications remain, but have not been substantially studied.
The strategic position of the region of Mitrovica in the middle of two great rivers Ibar and Sitnica and its mineral wealth in Albanik, made this location populated since prehistoric period. This region was populated by Illyrians, respectively members of the Dardan tribe. The first data for the archaeological sites in the region of Mitrovica, begin with the researches of Sir Artur John Evans, who was the first to pinpoint the Roman town of the Municipium Dardanourm. In the archaeological sites of the region of Mitrovica were found traces and objects from different periods such as; Neolithic, Roman, late antiquity and medieval period. Objects and figurines include: fortress vestiges, necropolis, Terpsichore figure, statues, sarcophagus, altar, jewelry, etc.
Kosovo Pomoravlje, or Anamorava, is a valley in Kosovo, in the southern part of the District of Gjilan surrounding the Binačka Morava River. It stretches eastward to the Preševo Valley in southern Serbia. The mountains in this region, rising to an altitude of 1,000–1,200 metres (3,300–3,900 ft), border the Skopska Crna Gora region in north of Skopje. Gjilan, Kamenica, Novo Brdo and Viti are municipalities located in the region. The region gave its name to Kosovo-Pomoravlje District, which largely corresponds to its successor District of Gjilan in Kosovo. It is known for recording the lowest temperature in Kosovo: −32.5 °C (−26.5 °F), on 25 January 1963.
Bjelaj Fortress, locally known as Stari Grad Bjelaj, is a medieval town-fortress complex near the village of Bjelaj, Bosanski Petrovac, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Ikorta castle is a historical castle of Ksani dukes (eristavs) in eastern Georgia, near the city of Gori in the village of Kvemo-Ikorta on the bank of river Artseula. The current remnants of the castle are Ikorta church and the citadel. Presumably dating to the 17th-18th centuries, the exact time of its construction is not known. The castle was built most probably when Ksani eristavs moved from Kvenipnevi to Akhalgori and obtained Ikorta as one of their residences. The Ikorta church served as the burial place for eristavs, and currently numerous gravestones can be found inside and around it.
The Walls of Cuéllar are Romanesque defensive walls that surrounds the old town of the Segovian village of Cuéllar. They represent one of the most important and best preserved walled complexes in the autonomous community of Castile and León (Spain).
Ljubuški Fortress, also known as Herceg Stjepan's Fortress, or the Old town of Ljubuški, is a medieval fortress in the municipality of Ljubuški, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
