What are the towers on a castle called?

A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls.

What were the parts of a castle called?

Battlements were most often found surmounting curtain walls and the tops of gatehouses, and comprised several elements: crenellations, hoardings, machicolations, and loopholes. Crenellation is the collective name for alternating crenels and merlons: gaps and solid blocks on top of a wall.

What is a tower of a castle?

A castle's tower was a fortified structure that provided flanking fire. Rectangular towers gave a good amount of usable internal space. Round ones, or drum towers, were better against siege technology.

What are the Spires on a castle called?

Turrets can be straight sided or have larger tops supported by corbels, possibly with machicolation. The spires are essentially just big spikes atop the turrets; they may have lighting rods, weather vanes, radio antennae, flags or other decorative features attached.

What are the small towers on a castle called?

Medieval Castle Parts *Turrets

A turret was a small tower that was constructed at the edge of a medieval castle wall.

The difference between types of castle TOWERS

What are the tops of castles called?

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. Battlements have several important parts. The short, topmost part of the wall was called the parapet.

What is the center of a castle called?

Inner Ward - The open area in the center of a castle.

What is a castle parapet?

A parapet fortification (known as a breastwork when temporary) is a wall of stone, wood or earth on the outer edge of a defensive wall or trench, which shelters the defenders. In medieval castles, they were often crenellated. In later artillery forts, parapets tend to be higher and thicker.

What are the tops of turrets called?

A turret could have a circular top with crenellations, a pointed roof, or an apex of some kind. Turrets sometimes contained a staircase that projected higher than the rest of the building.

What do you call a tower on top of a building?

In architecture, a cupola (/ˈkjuːpələ, ˈkuː-/) is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome.

What is the watchtower in a medieval castle?

Unlike castle turrets, watchtowers or look-outs were free standing structures that were built from the ground up, medieval watchtowers or look outs were built into many castle structures, they were also used for other similar fortified medieval buildings including medieval manor houses.

What were the main features of a castle?

What are the ridges on a castle called?

Crenellation is a feature of defensive architecture, most typically found on the battlements of medieval castles. A battlement is a low, defensive parapet.

What are the pointy roofs on castles called?

Conical roofs are frequently found on top of towers in medieval town fortifications and castles, where they may either sit directly on the outer wall of the tower (sometimes projecting beyond it to form eaves) or form a superstructure above the fighting platform or terrace of the tower.

What is the tower on a Victorian house called?

A Victorian-style turret, or tower, is probably the most prominent homebuilding feature that most people picture in their minds when they think Victorian architecture.

What are the ramparts of a castle?

In fortification architecture, a rampart is a length of bank 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.

What is a portcullis in a castle?

Definition of portcullis

: a grating of iron hung over the gateway of a fortified place and lowered between grooves to prevent passage.

What is the walkway on top of a castle wall called?

A chemin de ronde (French, "round path"' or "patrol path"; French pronunciation: ​[ʃəmɛ̃ də ʁɔ̃d]), also called an allure, alure or, more prosaically, a wall-walk, is a raised protected walkway behind a castle battlement.

What is a castle courtyard called?

A castle's Ward or Bailey is a courtyard enclosed by a curtain wall. Wards can range from simple enclosures to concentric defences, depending on the local topography and the level of fortification needed.

What is the difference between a turret and a tower?

A turret is simply a small, circular tower attached to a larger structure, usually on a corner or angle. The difference between a turret and an actual tower is that turrets typically don't start at the ground level and, rather, cantilever out from another upper level.

What is a fortified tower in a castle called?

A fortified tower (also defensive tower or castle tower or, in context, just tower) is one of the defensive structures used in fortifications, such as castles, along with curtain walls. Castle towers can have a variety of different shapes and fulfil different functions.

What is a Motte in a castle?

The motte was a huge mound with a castle, or keep, built on top. It would have been easy to defend, as people would have had to climb up it slowly to reach the keep. Most mottes were surrounded by a deep ditch to stop attackers. The bailey was a large area of ground, surrounded by a tall, wooden fence.

Why do castles have towers?

A medieval castle tower had central importance in the castle parts used for its defence. Medieval castle towers came in various shapes and served a variety of purposes. Although the central purpose of these towers was defence, they could also be used for storage and imprisonment purposes.

What should a castle include?

What is around a castle?

A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence.