Curtain Wall (fortification)
A curtain wall is the defensive wall surrounding the bailey of a medieval castle. It can also be a defensive wall between two bastions of a castle or fortress in post-medieval fortifications.
In earlier designs of castles the curtain walls were often built to a considerable height and were fronted by a ditch or moat to make assault difficult.
Later with the introduction of trace italienne fortifications the height of the curtain walls was reduced and beyond the ditch additional outworks such as ravelins and tenailles were added to protect the curtain walls from direct cannonading.
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Famous quotes containing the words curtain and/or wall:
“A curtain of wax dividing them from the bride flight,
The upflight of the murderess into a heaven that loves her.”
—Sylvia Plath (1932–1963)
“Knowledge of Rome must be physical, sweated into the system, worked up into the brain through the thinning shoe-leather.... When it comes to knowing, the senses are more honest than the intelligence. Nothing is more real than the first wall you lean up against sobbing with exhaustion.”
—Elizabeth Bowen (1899–1973)