What are castle battlements called?
It’s the crenels and merlons that give castles their distinct appearance. In fact, sometimes battlements are called crenellations.
What are the crenellations on a castle called?
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 a parapet in a castle?
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.
Where are the battlements on a castle?
The battlements are usually placed on top of the outer main castle walls at the entrance but can be added to any part of a castle’s main walls, including towers.
What is a merlon in a castle?
A merlon is the solid upright section of a battlement (a crenellated parapet) in medieval architecture or fortifications. Merlons are sometimes pierced by narrow, vertical embrasures or slits designed for observation and fire.
What is a passage in a castle called?
Allure or Wall-walk: passage behind the parapet of a castle wall.
What are the turrets on a castle called?
In architecture, a turret (from Italian: torretta, little tower; Latin: turris, tower) is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle.
What are battlements on a house?
The Battlement or Crenellation On a castle, fort, or other military fortification, a battlement is the top part of the wall that looks like teeth. It’s where soldiers were protected during “battle” upon the castle.
What were battlements used for?
The function of battlements in war is to protect the defenders by giving them something to hide behind, from which they can pop out to launch their own missiles.
What is a battlements used for in medieval castles?
Medieval battlements served several purposes. They allowed soldiers to defend the castle and also let archers attack by firing arrows and drop objects on the enemies below. This is why most parapets or walls were built around shoulder or head height – with the crenels or opening being lower.
What’s a Crenel?
Noun. 1. crenel – one of a series of rounded projections (or the notches between them) formed by curves along an edge (as the edge of a leaf or piece of cloth or the margin of a shell or a shriveled red blood cell observed in a hypertonic solution etc.) crenation, crenature, crenelle, scallop.
What are Merlons and crenels?
Crenels are rectangular gaps or indentations which occur at regular intervals along the parapet, usually measuring 2-3 ft wide. Merlons are the solid widths between the crenels, usually measuring 4-5 ft wide and 3-7 ft high.
What is a battlement on a castle?
On a castle, fort, or other military fortification, a battlement is the top part of the wall that looks like teeth. It’s where soldiers were protected during “battle” upon the castle. Also called crenellation, a battlement is really a parapet with open spaces for the castle-protectors to shoot cannons or other weaponry.
How do castles defend themselves from enemy attacks?
As the enemy approaches from the surrounding landscape, the army in the castle gathers its weapons, rushes to the highest area of the walls and shoots from behind short protective structures. This wall and the short structures on it are all part of an architectural element known as a battlement.
What were the battlements of Castles Made of?
Castle’s battlements were usually made of stone and were thinner than the wall below them. As medieval weaponry evolved during the Reinassance period, the use of battlements declined. Battlements at Wonwy Castle, North Wales.
Why were battlements built on top of walls?
If you think about medieval castles, you’ll recall that they were surrounded by walls, and within those walls were many other structures. Most battlements were built on top of the outermost castle walls because those were the areas most exposed to attack. But you’ll also sometimes see battlements added to the wall tops of inner structures.