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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. [1]
A merlon is the solid, upright section of a battlement (a crenellated parapet) in medieval architecture or fortifications. [1] Merlons are sometimes pierced by narrow, vertical embrasures, or tooth-like slits designed for observation and fire. The space between two merlons is called a crenel, and a succession of merlons and crenels is a ...
The 12th-century curtain wall of the Château de Fougères in Brittany in northern France, showing the battlements, arrowslits and overhanging machicolations.. In medieval castles, the area surrounded by a curtain wall, with or without towers, is known as the bailey. [4]
In architecture, a machicolation (French: mâchicoulis) is an opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement through which defenders could target attackers who had reached the base of the defensive wall. A smaller related structure that only protects key points of a fortification are referred to as Bretèche.
An embrasure (or crenel or crenelle; sometimes called gunhole in the domain of gunpowder-era architecture) is the opening in a battlement between two raised solid portions . Alternatively, an embrasure can be a space hollowed out throughout the thickness of a wall by the establishment of a bay. This term designates the internal part of this ...
Towers of medieval castles were usually made of stone, wood or a combination of both (with a stone base supporting a wooden loft). Often toward the later part of the era they included battlements and arrow loops.
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with towers, bastions and gates for access to the city. [1]
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. [1] [2] In early fortifications, high castle walls were difficult to defend from the ground.