What is the defensive wall of a castle called?


What is the defensive wall of a castle called? A curtain wall is a defensive wall between two fortified towers or bastions of a castle, fortress, or town.


What are the bumps on a castle wall 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 fence around a castle called?

Palisade - A sturdy wooden fence usually built to enclose a site until a permanent stone wall could be erected. Parapet - Protective wall at the top of a fortification, around the outer side of the wall-walk.


What are the walls on a castle called?

A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals to allow for the launch of arrows or other projectiles from within the defences.


What is the outer wall of a castle?

Curtain wall castles 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 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 were the inner and outer walls of a castle called?

The inner bailey or inner ward of a castle is the strongly fortified enclosure at the heart of a medieval castle. It is protected by the outer ward and, sometimes also a Zwinger, moats, a curtain wall and other outworks. Depending on topography it may also be called an upper bailey or upper ward.


What surrounds a castle?

moat, a depression surrounding a castle, city wall, or other fortification, usually but not always filled with water. The existence of a moat was a natural result of early methods of fortification by earthworks, for the ditch produced by the removal of earth to form a rampart made a valuable part of the defense system.


What was a curtain wall in a castle?

A curtain wall is a defensive wall between two fortified towers or bastions of a castle, fortress, or town.