A report on Castle

Dating back to the early 12th century, the Alcázar of Segovia is one of the most distinctive castles in Europe.
Built in 1385, Bodiam Castle in East Sussex, England, is surrounded by a water-filled moat.
The Norman White Tower, the keep of the Tower of London, exemplifies all uses of a castle including city defence, a residence, and a place of refuge in times of crisis.
Windsor Castle in England was founded as a fortification during the Norman Conquest and today is one of the principal official residences of Queen Elizabeth II.
Baba Vida medieval castle build on the banks of the Danube in Vidin, Bulgaria
São Jorge Castle in Lisbon, Portugal, with a bridge over a moat
The wooden palisades on top of mottes were often later replaced with stone, as in this example at Château de Gisors in France.
A courtyard of the 14th-century Raseborg Castle in Finland
The 14th-century keep of Château de Vincennes near Paris towers above the castle's curtain wall. The wall exhibits features common to castle architecture: a gatehouse, corner towers, and machicolations.
Beaumaris Castle in Anglesey, North Wales, with curtain walls between the lower outer towers, and higher inner curtain walls between the higher inner towers.
A 13th-century gatehouse in the château de Châteaubriant, France. It connects the upper ward to the lower one.
Caerlaverock Castle in Scotland is surrounded by a moat.
Daorson, Bosnia, built around a prehistoric central fortified settlement or acropolis (existed there cca. 17/16th c. to the end of the Bronze Age, cca. 9/8th c. BCE), surrounded by cyclopean walls (similar to Mycenae) dated to the 4th c. BCE.
Borġ in-Nadur fort in Malta, built during the Tarxien phase and used until the Bronze Age.
The Bayeux Tapestry contains one of the earliest representations of a castle. It depicts attackers of the Château de Dinan in France using fire, a major threat to wooden castles.
Built in 1138, Castle Rising in Norfolk, England is an example of an elaborate donjon.
Albarrana tower in Paderne Castle, Portugal
The gatehouse to the inner ward of Beeston Castle in Cheshire, England, was built in the 1220s, and has an entrance between two D-shaped towers.
Krak des Chevaliers in Syria is a concentric castle built with both rectangular and rounded towers. It is one of the best-preserved Crusader castles.
The design of Edward I's Harlech Castle (built in the 1280s) in North Wales was influenced by his experience of the Crusades.
The northern walls of the Gran Castello in Gozo, Malta, were built in the 15th century.
Corvin Castle in Transylvania (built between 1446 and 1480) was one of the biggest in Eastern Europe at that time.
Castle De Haar, Utrecht, Netherlands.
The angled bastion, as used in Copertino Castle in Italy, was developed around 1500. First used in Italy, it allowed the evolution of artillery forts that eventually took over the military role of castles.
Neuschwanstein is a 19th-century historicist (neoromanesque) castle built by Ludwig II of Bavaria, inspired by the romanticism of the time.
Castello Dei Baroni, a country residence in Wardija, Malta, designed with castle-like features.
A 19th-century depiction by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc of the construction of the large tower at Coucy Castle in France, with scaffolding and masons at work. The putlog holes mark the position of the scaffolding in earlier stages of construction. The tower was blown up in 1917.
Experimental archeology castle building at Guédelon Castle site in France (2015).
God Speed! by Edmund Blair Leighton, 1900: a late Victorian view of a lady giving a favour to a knight about to do battle.
Highland castles such as Château de Montségur in southern France have become the popular idea of where castles should be found because they are photogenic, where in reality castles were built in a variety of places due to a range of considerations.
Srebrenik Fortress in Srebrenik, Bosnia: inaccessibility of location with only a narrow bridge traversing deep canyon provides excellent protection.
Almourol Castle in Portugal, which stands on a small islet in the Tejo River.
Tavastia Castle in Hämeenlinna, Finland, one of the northernmost castles in Europe. The exact date of construction of the castle is unclear, as far as it is known to have been built in the late 13th century, but the first mention of it in contemporary documents is from 1308. It was built close to Lake Vanajavesi.
An early 13th-century drawing by Matthew Paris showing contemporary warfare, including the use of castles (here Lincoln Castle), crossbowmen and mounted knights.
A reconstructed trebuchet at Château des Baux in Bouches-du-Rhône in the south of France.

Type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders.

- Castle
Dating back to the early 12th century, the Alcázar of Segovia is one of the most distinctive castles in Europe.

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The multiple ramparts of the British Camp hillfort in Herefordshire

Rampart (fortification)

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The multiple ramparts of the British Camp hillfort in Herefordshire
Earth ditch and rampart defences on the Ipf near Bopfingen, Germany
Reconstructed pfostenschlitzmauer of the oppidum at Finsterlohr, Creglingen, Germany
The rampart of the Cité de Carcassonne in the Aude department of France. Originally constructed in the 4th century AD by the Romans, they were largely rebuilt in 1240 and heavily restored in the 19th century.
The rampart of the artillery fortress at Peschiera del Garda in Italy, which was rebuilt in the trace italienne style in 1549.

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.

Reconstructed wooden hoarding at the Cité de Carcassonne, France

Hoarding (castle)

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Reconstructed wooden hoarding at the Cité de Carcassonne, France
The interior of a reconstructed hoarding at Caerphilly Castle, Wales.

A hoard or hoarding was a temporary wooden shed-like construction on the exterior of a castle during a siege that enabled the defenders to improve their field of fire along the length of a wall and, most particularly, directly downwards towards the bottom of the wall.

Ham House is an English country house in Richmond, England.

English country house

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Large house or mansion in the English countryside.

Large house or mansion in the English countryside.

Ham House is an English country house in Richmond, England.
Longleat House was the first country house to open to the public, and also claims the first safari park outside Africa. It became the first property in what later was known as the stately home industry.
Blenheim Palace
Forde Abbey in Dorset. Many country houses have evolved and been extended over several centuries. Here, the architecture runs from Medieval ecclesiastical to Palladian and on to Strawberry Hill Gothic, while at sometime an attempt at unity has been made by the use of crenelation.
Brympton d'Evercy in Somerset evolved from the Medieval period; its provincial architects are long forgotten. Yet, Christopher Hussey described it as "The most incomparable house in Britain, the one which created the greatest impression and summarises so exquisitely English country life qualities".
Kedleston Hall designed by Matthew Brettingham and Robert Adam, one of the great power houses.
Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire. During the Victorian era, vast country houses were built in a variety of styles by wealthy industrialists and bankers.
Trentham, Staffordshire. During the 20th century, thousands of country houses were demolished, their stone and fixtures sold. During this era, many fine architectural features were transported to the US.

Other terms used in the names of houses to describe their origin or importance include palace, castle, court, hall, mansion, park, house, manor, and place.

St-Sernin basilica, Toulouse, France: elevation of the east end (1080–1120).

Romanesque architecture

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Architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches.

Architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches.

St-Sernin basilica, Toulouse, France: elevation of the east end (1080–1120).
Portal, Church of Santa Maria, Viu de Llevata, Catalonia, Spain
The vault at the Abbey Church of Saint Foy, Conques, France
Cloister of the Basilica di San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome
Bell tower of Angoulême Cathedral, Charente, SW France
Window and Lombard band of the Rotunda of San Tomè, Almenno San Bartolomeo
Saint Nicholas Rotunda in Cieszyn, Poland
alt=A small three-storey stone house with an exterior stone staircase to the first floor, and a wooden balcony around the upper floor|Romanesque house in Poreč, Croatia
alt=An imposing four-storey stone building with battlements and rows of paired windows, facing onto a town square.|The Civic Hall in Massa Marittima, Italy
alt=The facade of a tall grey church with paired towers and a single ornately carved doorway|Abbey Church of St James, Lébény, Hungary (1208)
alt=A circular castle tower with enormous jutting buttresses. There are few windows and entrance is on an upper floor, is reached by a modern staircase.|The keep of Conisbrough Castle, England.
Santa María del Naranco, Oviedo, Spain, AD 848. Built as a palace for Ramiro I of Asturias.
alt=The interior of a narrow and rather dark church that has columns down each side supporting a plain wall with small high windows.|Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome (8th – early 12th century) has a basilical plan and reuses ancient Roman columns.
alt=The interior of a tall octagonal church, rising in three rows of decorated arches. A large candelabra hangs above the central altar.|Charlemagne's Palatine Chapel, Aachen, 9th century, modelled on the Byzantine church of San Vitale, Ravenna
alt=The interior of another long narrow church with high windows. The arch leading into the chancel at the far end has alternating red and white stones.|Interior of St. Michael's, Hildesheim, (1001–1031) with alternating piers and columns and a 13th-century painted wooden ceiling
alt=The exterior of the same church shows a short square tower with a pointed metal roof over the crossing, and a small round tower at the end of the transept.|St. Michael's Church, Hildesheim has similar characteristics to the church in the Plan of Saint Gall.
alt= A huge square tower of grey stone is seen beyond fortifications on the edge of a river.|Tower of London (1078); William the Conqueror built the central White Tower as his stronghold and residence
alt=An enormous cathedral, of red stone with green copper roofs, has a two tall towers framing an octagonal dome at each end of the building.|Speyer Cathedral, begun by Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor in 1030, as an expression of imperial power and architectural innovation
alt=A castle with a tall narrow tower and walls topped by battlements stretches along the edge of a cliff covered in trees and palm trees|{{lang|it|Castello di Venere}}, Erice (12th–13th century), is one of many built by the Normans in Sicily, Italy.
alt=View of a small town on a hilltop surrounded by trees and vineyards. There are eight tall square towers rising from among the densely packed houses.|Many towns, such as San Gimignano, were enclosed with walls, causing crowding and the building of tower houses
alt=A little stone church with a little steeple on a wooden belfry sits in a green graveyard overlooking a lake and mountains.|Many parish churches across Europe, such as this in Vestre Slidre, Norway, are of Romanesque foundation
alt=In a wooded valley is a large church with small windows and a square stone belfry. It is surrounded by ancient buildings arranged around courtyards, and a lavender garden.|The Romanesque Sénanque Abbey church and surrounding monastic buildings, Gordes, Provence, France
alt=The houses of a small town, surrounded by green hillsides, are dominated by a huge church with a large square tower and a spire like a witch's hat.|Collegiate churches such as that of Saint Hadelin, Celles, Belgium, were administered by lay canons
alt=A huge cathedral with numerous towers, both square and round, rises above a town square where people are sitting in the shade of clipped trees.|Many cathedrals such as Trier Cathedral, Germany, date from this period, with many later additions
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, a major pilgrimage site from the 4th century onwards, its rotunda inspired the construction of many Romanesque circular churches.
alt= An enormous castle with encircling walls, on a rise in barren country with distant mountains.|Crusader castle, Krak des Chevaliers, Syria, was mainly constructed in this period, with the outer walls being later
The Abbey of Saint Foy, Conques, France, was one of many such abbeys to be built along the pilgrimage Way of St James that led to Santiago de Compostela.
The plan of the Church of Saint Front, Périgueux, France, was influenced by Byzantine architecture seen by the Crusaders. The present appearance is largely due to restorer Paul Abadie, mid-19th Century
The basilica of Saint-Sernin in Toulouse is the archetype of large pilgrimage churches, where pilgrims could walk around the church via the transept and the choir chapels.
alt=A small church sits on a steep rise, surrounded by craggy mountains. It is basically square with three bulging projections and a castle-like tower.|The monastery of San Vittore alle Chiuse, Genga, Italy, of undressed stone, has a typically fortress-like appearance with small windows of early Romanesque.
alt=A large square castle keep of pinkish-grey stone, with a projecting entrance tower, has architectural details to its windows, mouldings and stonework.|Castle Rising, England, shows flat buttresses and reinforcing at the corners of the building typical in both castles and churches.
alt= A tall church of grey stone with fine details and a crossing tower topped with a slate-covered spire rises out of rural countryside, where two mares are grazing.|Cerisy Abbey, Normandy, France, has a compact appearance with aisles rising through two storeys buttressing the vault.
alt=A long, low cathedral has a fine Norman brick crossing-tower rising in three stages of round-topped paired windows. The rest of the building is a conglomeration of styles in ancient brick, modern brick, ashlar and flint.|St Albans Cathedral England, demonstrates the typical alterations made to the fabric of many Romanesque buildings in different styles and materials
alt=The facade and forecourt of a redbrick church are composed of simple arcades. A brick tower rises up to one side.|The atrium and arcaded narthex of Sant'Ambrogio, Milan, Italy, is a harmonious composition of similar arches.
alt=A highly ornamental church facade built in alternating courses of red and white stone.|The facade of Notre Dame du Puy, le Puy en Velay, France, has a more complex arrangement of diversified arches: Doors of varying widths, blind arcading, windows and open arcades.
alt=A tall rectangular structure of grey stone and stern appearance with a jutting apse and a small octagonal belfry.|Collegiate Church of Saint Gertrude, Nivelles, Belgium uses fine shafts of Belgian marble to define alternating blind openings and windows. Upper windows are similarly separated into two openings by colonettes.
alt=The apsidal end of a tall red stone church framed by circular towers.|Worms Cathedral, Germany, displays a great variety of openings and arcades including wheel and rose windows, many small simple windows, galleries and Lombard courses.
alt=A very large porch of yellowish stone, with a single enormous, slightly pointed archway, juts from the side of a building.|The south portal of the Abbey of Saint-Pierre, Moissac, France, has a square door divided by an ornate doorpost, surmounted by a carved tympanum and set within a vast arched porch.
St Michael's, Hildesheim, shows two columns set between the piers.
Mainz Cathedral, Germany, has rectangular piers and possibly the earliest example of an internal elevation of 3 stages. (Gothic vault)
Malmesbury Abbey, England, has hollow core columns, probably filled with rubble. (Gothic vault)
The cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, has large drum columns with attached shafts supporting a barrel vault.
Durham Cathedral, England, has decorated masonry columns alternating with piers of clustered shafts supporting the earliest pointed high ribs.
Simple capital of a Doric form supporting a Mozarabic arch, São Pedro de Lourosa Church, Portugal
Capital of Corinthian form with anthropomorphised details, Pisa Campanile, Italy
Capital of Corinthian form with Byzantine decoration and carved dosseret, San Martín de Tours, Frómista, Palencia
Capital of simplified concave Corinthian form with billeted abacus, simple dosseret and pronounced annulet. Church of Santa Maria, San Martín de Castañeda, Spain
Capital of convex cubic form with its abacus, concave dosseret and cable decoration defined by polychrome. Herina. Capitals of this shape are often decorated with "Barbaric" carvings of foliage, and mythical creatures.
Capital retaining Corinthian form decorated with intertwined beasts derived from Irish manuscripts. Grande-Sauve Abbey, France
Capital of amorphous form surmounting a cluster of shafts. The figurative carving shows a winged devil directing Herod to slaughter the Innocents. Monastery of San Juan de Duero, Soria, Spain
alt=A tall narrow church interior with rounds columns in delicate pastel colours that rise without interruption from floor to vault.|The painted barrel vault at the Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe is supported on tall marbled columns.
The nave of Lisbon Cathedral is covered by a series of transverse barrel vaults separated by transverse arches and has an upper, arched gallery (triforium).
alt= A church interior of yellow stone with arches of alternating red and cream crossing the nave to support an unusual vaulting system.|The Church of St Philibert, Tournus, has a series of transverse barrel vaults supported on diaphragm arches.
alt=A narrow space with grey columns with ornate capitals supporting a plastered cross vault without ribs.|The aisle of the Abbey Church at Mozac has groin vaults supported on transverse arches.
alt=A side aisle with masonry of massive proportions is ribbed with arches of a bold profile.|The aisles at Peterborough Cathedral have quadripartite ribbed vaults. (The nave has an ancient painted wooden ceiling.)
alt=A tall wide church of grey stone, elegantly vaulted with fine ribs.|The ribbed vaults at Saint-Étienne, Caen, are sexpartite and span two bays of the nave.
The crossing of Speyer Cathedral, Germany, has a dome on squinches.
The plan of the Abbey of St Gall, Switzerland
Germany, Speyer Cathedral
France, Autun Cathedral
France, Angoulême Cathedral
England, Ely Cathedral
Spain, Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
France, Basilica of Saint-Sernin, Toulouse
Spain, San Isidoro de León
Modena Cathedral
This drawing is a reconstruction by Dehio of the appearance of the Romanesque Konstanz Cathedral before its alterations in the Gothic style. It has a typical elevation of nave and aisles with wooden panelled ceilings and an apsidal east end.
This nave elevation of Arnsburg Abbey, Germany, shows the typical arrangement of the nave arcade, aisle, clerestory windows and ribbed vault
Exterior elevation, Peterborough Cathedral
Rural church of São Pedro de Lourosa, Portugal, built in the 10th century it has the simplest type of square-shape apsidal east end.
The small church of Saint-Pierre Xhignesse, Belgium, already has a semi-circular termination at the same height as the choir and nave.
The small church of Saint-Andreas Szprotawa, Poland, built in the 13th century has an apsidal east end projecting from a chancel.
The Cathedral of Santa Maria d'Urgell, Catalonia, has an apsidal east end projecting at a lower level to the choir and decorated with an arcade below the roofline. This form is usual in Italy and Germany.
The Abbey of Sant'Antimo has a high apsidal end surrounded by an ambulatory and with small projecting apses
Saint-Étienne, Nevers, displays a round chancel with ambulatory, apsidal chapels and strongly projecting transepts
The Old Cathedral of Coimbra, Portugal, is fortress-like and battlemented. The two central openings are deeply recessed.
Church of St. Trophime, Arles, France. The ornamentation is focused on the porch and the carved Christ in Majesty on the tympanum, typical of French cathedrals.
Church of San Zeno, Verona, Italy, The facade is neatly divided vertically and horizontally. The central wheel window and small porch with columns resting on crouching lions is typical of Italy.
Pisa Cathedral, Italy. The entire building is faced with marble striped in white and grey. On the facade this pattern is overlaid with architectonic decoration of blind arcading below tiers of dwarf galleries. The three portals became increasingly common.
The Collegiate Church, Empoli, Italy, represents a screen facade. The polychrome marble decoration divides the facade into zones while giving little indication of the architectural form behind it.
Angoulême Cathedral, France. The facade here, richly decorated with architectonic and sculptural forms, has much in common with that at Empoli in that it screens the form of the building behind it.
Saint-Étienne, Abbaye aux Hommes, Caen, France, 11th century, with its tall towers, three portals and neat definition of architectural forms became a model for the facades of many later cathedrals across Europe. 14th-century spires
Southwell Cathedral, England, 1120, follows the Norman model with pyramidal spires as were probably at Saint-Étienne. The Perpendicular window and battlement are late Gothic.
Lisbon Cathedral, Portugal, 1147, has a similar form to the Old Cathedral of Coimbra above with the addition of two sturdy bell towers in the Norman manner and a wheel window.
Limburg Cathedral, Germany. The facade, c. 1200, with polychrome plaster, follows the paired-tower model found at several Rhineland churches. The rose window has plate tracery and the spires are Rhenish helms.
The westwork of the Maria Laach Abbey, Germany, 12th century, (porch 1225) is typical of Germany, a form that dates to Carolingian architecture with grouped towers of different plans and both "candle-snuffer" and Rhenish helm spires.
Parma Cathedral, Italy, 1178, has a screen facade ornamented with galleries. At the centre is an open porch surmounted by a ceremonial balcony. The tower, (Gothic 1284) is a separate structure as usual in Italy.
The tower of the Basilica of San Frediano, Lucca, has openings that graduate in number, typical of Italian and Spanish Romanesque campanile. (See pic. San Esteban, Segovia, below)
Paired towers such as those of Plankstetten Abbey, are a typical feature of Bavarian and Central European church architecture. (See image of Abbey Church of St James, Lébény, above)
The octagonal crossing tower of the Abbey church at Cluny influenced the building of other polygonal crossing towers in France, Spain and Germany. (See pic. Maria Laach Abbey, above)
The most massive Romanesque crossing tower is that at Tewkesbury Abbey, in England, where large crossing towers are characteristic. (See pic. St Alban's Cathedral, above)
The Leaning Tower of Pisa with its encircling arcades is the best known (and most richly decorated) of the many circular towers found in Italy.
San Zeno, Verona, has a porch typical of Italy. The square-topped doorway is surmounted by a mosaic. To either side are marble reliefs showing the Fall of Man and the Life of Christ
The mouldings of the arched central west door of Lincoln Cathedral are decorated by chevrons and other formal and figurative ornament typical of English Norman. The "Gallery of Kings" above the portal is Gothic
The Basilica of Saint-Trophime, Arles, France, has an elaborate sculptural scheme which includes Christ in Majesty, a frieze extending over the lintel and a gallery of sculptured figures.
The Porta de Praterías, Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, by Master Esteban, has two wide openings with tympanums supported on brackets. The sculptured frieze above is protected by an eave on corbels.
The portal of Saint-Pierre, Moissac, has unusual features including the frieze of roundels on the lintel, the scalloped jambs and figures of prophets on the central jamb
St Gertrude, Nivelles, Belgium, (consecrated 1046) has a nave and aisles divided by piers supporting a clerestorey. The nave is divided by transverse arches. The interior would have been plastered and painted.
San Miniato al Monte, Florence (1013–1090) has basilical form, open timber roof and decoration of polychrome marble and mosaic. The decoration continued harmoniously until the apsidal mosaic of 1260.
The Church of St Philibert, Tournus, (990–1019) has tall circular piers supporting the arcade and is roofed with a series of barrel vaults supported on arches. Small clerestory windows light the vault.
Abbey of St Mary Magdalene, Vézelay, (consecrated 1104) has clusters of vertical shafts rising to support transverse arches and a groin vault. The dressed polychrome stonework has exquisitely detailed mouldings. East end is Gothic.
The nave of Peterborough Cathedral (1118–1193) in three stages of arcade, gallery & clerestory, typical of Norman abbey churches. The rare wooden ceiling retains its original decoration (c. 1230). Gothic arches beneath tower (c. 1350).
The groin-vaulted crypt of Worcester Cathedral
The chapter house of Santa María de la Oliva, Carcastillo, Spain
The lateral porch of the Church of San Esteban, Segovia
The cloister of Lavaudieu Abbey
The Baptistery of Parma Cathedral
Blind arcading in brick in the Mozarabic style of Asturia and Leon on the apse of Castro de Avelãs Monastery, a unique example in Portugal.
Overlapping arches form a blind arcade at St Lawrence's church Castle Rising, England. (1150) The semi-circular arches form pointed arches where they overlap, a motif which may have influenced Gothic.
Flat striated pillars (one of which forms the axis of symmetry, separating two windows with semi-circular arches) and richly decorated blind windows in the apse of San Juan de Rabanera Church in Soria, Spain.
Dwarf galleries are a major decorative feature on the exterior of Speyer Cathedral, Germany (1090–1106), surrounding the walls and encircling the towers. This was to become a feature of Rhenish Romanesque.
The eastern apse of Parma Cathedral, Italy (early 12th century) combines a diversity of decorative features: blind arcading, galleries, courses and sculptured motifs.
The arcading on the facade of Lucca Cathedral, Tuscany (1204) has many variations in its decorative details, both sculptural and in the inlaid polychrome marble.
Polychrome blind arcading of the apse of Monreale Cathedral, Sicily (1174–82) The decoration indicates Islamic influence in both the motifs and the fact that all the arches, including those of the windows, are pointed.
Detail of an apse of Abbey d'Arthous, Landes, France showing corbels representing aspects of sin such as lust, drunkenness and ignorance.
The portal of the Hermitage of St Segundo, Avila, has paired creatures. and decorative bands of floral and interlacing. The pairing of creatures could draw on Byzantine and Celtic models.
The carving of the polychrome porch of the Saint-Michel-D'aiguilhe chapel, the Aiguilhe, Haute-Loire, France, (11th century), has paired mermaids, and the Lamb of God
On these mouldings around the portal of Lincoln Cathedral are formal chevron ornament, tongue-poking monsters, vines and figures, and symmetrical motifs.
St Martin's Church, Gensac-la-Pallue has capitals with elaborate interlacing.
Interwoven and spiralling vines in the "manuscript" style at Saint-Sernin, Toulouse.
The tympanum of the side entrance of Saint-Sernin of Toulouse, (c. 1115) shows the Ascension of Christ, surrounded by angels, in a simple composition of standing figures.
The tympanum of the inner portal of la Madeleine Vezelay has the scene of Christ in Majesty, at the Last Judgement. The figure of Christ is highly formalised in both posture and treatment. (1130s)
The tympanum of the Saint-Pierre, Moissac, is a highly sophisticated, tightly packed design, like a manuscript illumination. Christ is surrounded by the symbols of the Four Evangelists
Details of the portal of Oloron Cathedral show a demon, a lion swallowing a man and kings with musical instruments.
A relief from St Trophime, Arles, showing King Herod and the Three Kings, follows the conventions in that the seated Herod is much larger than the standing figures.
Notre-Dame-en-Vaux, Châlons-en-Champagne. This paired capital representing Christ washing the feet of the disciples is lively and naturalistic.
The painted crypt of San Isidoro in León, Spain has a detailed scheme illustrating Biblical stories.
Apse of the Church of St Justus, Segovia. Christ in Majesty was a common theme for the apse.
A frieze of figures occupies the zone below the semi-dome in the apse. Abbey of St Pere of Burgal, Catalonia, Spain
In England the major pictorial theme occurs above the chancel arch in parish churches. St John the Baptist, Clayton, Sussex
This fresco showing Galen and Hippocrates is part of a complex scheme decorating the crypt of Anagni Cathedral, Italy
King David from Augsburg Cathedral, late 11th century. One of a series of prophets that are the oldest stained glass windows in situ.
Two panels of lively figures, Seth and Adam from the 12th-century Ancestors of Christ, Canterbury Cathedral, now set into a Perpendicular Gothic window with panels of many different dates.
Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor, from a series of Emperors (12th and 13th centuries) The panels are now set into Gothic windows, Strasbourg Cathedral
Detail of a small panel showing Kings David and Solomon set in an architectonic frame from a large window at Strasbourg. Late 12th century. The alternation of red and blue is a typical device of simpler window designs. It is approximately 1/3 the height, and is much less complex in execution than the Emperor series of which Otto II is a part. See left
A rare and remarkable survival, of "unforgettable beauty", the very large Crucifixion window of Poitiers Cathedral, France.
The facade of Laon Cathedral, 1225, a Gothic cathedral, maintains rounded arches and arcading in the Romanesque manner.
Ely Cathedral, England, the central western tower and framing smaller towers all had transitional features, 1180s. The tower to the left fell. Gothic porch, 1250s; lantern, 1390s.
The facade of the Cathedral of Genoa has both round and pointed arches, and paired windows, a continuing Romanesque feature of Italian Gothic architecture.
alt=A tidy building like a large barn, of red brick with long sloping roofs, dormer windows and a low arched doorway.|The Great Hall of Oakham Castle, England, once part of the fortified manor of a Norman baron
Natural History Museum, London, Alfred Waterhouse, 1879
The façade of Catholic church of Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune, Strasbourg (built 1888–1893), is of a type adopted for many churches in the early 20th century.
The 19th-century reconstruction of the westwerk of the Romanesque Speyer Cathedral. see above
Royce Hall, at UCLA, inspired by The Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio in Milan, Italy. see above
Stanford Memorial Church at Stanford University, US, is a loose interpretation of a Romanesque facade.
The Smithsonian Institution Building, also known as "The Castle".

Many castles were built during this period, but they are greatly outnumbered by churches.

A loophole or inverted keyhole embrasure, allowing both arrow fire (through the arrowslit at the top) and small cannon fire through the circular openings, Fort-la-Latte, France

Embrasure

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Opening in a battlement between the two raised solid portions, referred to as crenel or crenelle in a space hollowed out throughout the thickness of a wall by the establishment of a bay.

Opening in a battlement between the two raised solid portions, referred to as crenel or crenelle in a space hollowed out throughout the thickness of a wall by the establishment of a bay.

A loophole or inverted keyhole embrasure, allowing both arrow fire (through the arrowslit at the top) and small cannon fire through the circular openings, Fort-la-Latte, France
Pillbox stepped embrasure, Taunton Stop Line, England
Embrasure of Chinese wall
Embrasures at Mdina, Malta

There are embrasures especially in fortified castles and bunkers.

Krak des Chevaliers was built during the 12th and 13th centuries by the Knights Hospitaller with later additions by Mamluks. It is a World Heritage Site.

List of Crusader castles

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Krak des Chevaliers was built during the 12th and 13th centuries by the Knights Hospitaller with later additions by Mamluks. It is a World Heritage Site.
Sidon's Sea Castle built by the crusaders as a fortress of the holy land in Sidon, Lebanon.
Kyrenia Castle
The remains of Belvoir Castle
Monfort castle
Montreal (Shaubak)
Kerak
Crusader castle in the village of Toron, Lebanon
The remains of Margat
The ruins of Bagras Castle, viewed from the southeast

This is a list of castles in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, founded or occupied during the Crusades.

Golconda Fort

Forts in India

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The existence of the earliest forts in India have been substantiated by documentation and excavation.

The existence of the earliest forts in India have been substantiated by documentation and excavation.

Golconda Fort
Gwalior Fort, Gwalior
Jaipur Fort, Rajasthan
Diwan i Khas in Red Fort, Delhi
Murud-Janjira Fort, Maharastra
Detail on stupa at Sanchi showing evidence of crenallations and embrasures
Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur a Giri durg
Bastions of Murud-Janjira a Jal durg
Ruins of Golkonda Fort, Hyderabad
Lime mortar mixer on Rasalgad
An 18th-century painting of Fort St George, Madras

Most of the forts in India are actually castles or fortresses.

Caerphilly Castle and moat

Caerphilly Castle

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Caerphilly Castle and moat
Caerphilly Castle from the south-west
Great Hall (l), private apartments (c), Inner West Gatehouse (r)
The South-East tower, leaning at an angle, probably due to subsidence
An original aquatint of the castle at the end of the eighteenth century, prior to rebuilding.
Plan of Caerphilly Castle: A – West Gatehouses; B – South Lake; C – Great Hall; D – Inner Ward; E – Middle Ward; F – North Bank; G – North Lake; H – East Gatehouses; I – South Gatehouse; J – South Dam Platform; K – Mill; L – Felton's Tower; M – Outer East Moat; N – Outer Main Gatehouse; O – North Dam Platform; P – North Gatehouse
The interior of the Great Hall

Caerphilly Castle (Castell Caerffili) is a medieval fortification in Caerphilly in South Wales.

Reconstruction of a palisade in a Celtic village at St Fagans National History Museum, Wales

Palisade

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Typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure.

Typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure.

Reconstruction of a palisade in a Celtic village at St Fagans National History Museum, Wales
Reconstruction of a medieval palisade in Germany
The Kincaid Site, a Mississippian culture palisaded settlement in southern Illinois
A section of reconstructed palisade at the Angel Mounds Site, a Mississippian site in Evansville, Indiana
A simple palanka with its curtain walls made of timber and wattle fences
Vertical, half-timber palisade architecture at Covewood Lodge in Big Moose Lake in New York's Adirondack Mountains
Residential electric palisade fence in Johannesburg, South Africa. The top spikes are electrified while the bottom of the palisade is grounded.

Often, a palisade would be constructed around a castle as a temporary wall until a permanent stone wall could be erected.

Drawbridge at the fort of Ponta da Bandeira; Lagos, Portugal

Drawbridge

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Drawbridge at the fort of Ponta da Bandeira; Lagos, Portugal
Double-beam drawbridge The Poortbrug in Leeuwarden bridges the former city moat
Animation showing the operation of a drawbridge

A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat.