What are the blocks on top of a castle called?
What are the blocks on top of a castle called? Lesson Summary. 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.
What are the bumps on castles called?
Crenellations are one of the most recognizable elements of a medieval castle. These upright projections resemble teeth, bared at invaders to prevent their attempted entries and at allies to show the owner's strength. Each upright section is called a merlon or crenel, and they protected defenders from attacks.
What is the walkway on a castle wall called?
Article Talk. A chemin de ronde (French, round path' or patrol path; French pronunciation: [??m?~ d? ??~d]), also called an allure, alure or, more prosaically, a wall-walk, is a raised protected walkway behind a castle battlement.
Why do castles have parapets?
A parapet originally meant a defensive mini-wall made of earth or stone that was built to protect soldiers on the roof of a fort or a castle. Now it indicates any low wall along the roof of a building, the edge of a balcony, the side of a bridge, or similar structure.
What is the name of the overhang on a castle?
Bartizan - An overhanging battlemented corner turret, corbelled out; sometimes as grandiose as an overhanging gallery; common in Scotland and France. Bastion - A small tower at the end of a curtain wall or in the middle of the outside wall; solid masonry projection; structural rather than inhabitable.
What is the top of the turret in a castle?
Turrets provided a projecting defensive position that covered fire to its adjacent walls. A turret could have a circular top with crenellations, a pointed roof, or an apex of some kind.
What is the bailey in a castle?
A bailey is the sturdy wall around a castle that keeps invaders out. The bailey of a medieval castle was usually built of stone. You might see a bailey — or the remains of one — if you tour a castle in England or France.
What is a Garderobe in a castle?
In a medieval castle, a garderobe was usually a simple hole discharging to the outside into a cesspit (akin to a pit latrine) or the moat (like a fish pond toilet), depending on the structure of the building.
What is a rampart in a castle?
In fortification architecture, a bank or rampart is a length of embankment or wall forming part of the defensive boundary of a castle, hillfort, settlement or other fortified site. It is usually broad-topped and made of excavated earth and/or masonry.