Fortification

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Bourtange star fort, restored to 1750 situation, Groningen (province), Netherlands

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Templeborough Roman fort in Yorkshire. The reconstruction was created for Rotherham Museums and Galleries.

Fortifications are military constructions and buildings designed for defense during war. People have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, but the designs have become more and more complex. The term fortification comes from the Latin words fortis ("strong") and facere ("to make").

Many military installations are known as forts, although they are not always fortified. Larger forts may class as fortresses, smaller ones formerly often bore the name of fortalices. Some are castles. The word fortification can also mean the practice of improving an area's defense with defensive works. City walls are fortifications but not necessarily called fortresses.

The last great system of fortification to be built was the Atlantic Wall.

Fortification Media

• Castillo San Felipe del Morro (10 of 1).jpg

  Castillo San Felipe del Morro, Puerto Rico. The fortress and walled city of Old San Juan are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

• Aerial photograph of Maiden Castle, 1935.jpg

  Maiden Castle in 1935. The Iron Age hillfort was first built in 600 BC.

• Han Tomb Brick - 3.jpg

  Han dynasty tomb brick showing gate towers

• Borg in-Nadur ruins.jpeg

  Remains of a fortified village, Borġ in-Nadur, Malta. Borġ in-Nadur is a notable example of Bronze Age fortifications.

• Bibracte Porte Rebout.jpg

  Reconstructed walls of Bibracte, a Gaulish oppidum, showing the construction technique known as murus gallicus. Oppida were large fortified settlements used during the Iron Age.

• Casamata de Masada.jpg

  An ancient casemate wall at Masada.

• Celio - le mura tra porta san Sebastiano e porta Ardeatina 2004.JPG

  An interior view of the Aurelian walls near Porta San Sebastiano

• Dholavira gujarat.jpg

  Defensive wall of the ancient city of Dholavira, Gujarat 2600 BCE

• Jaisalmer forteresse.jpg

  Jaisalmer Fort, Rajasthan, India

• Beauty of Sigiriya by Binuka.jpg

  Rock fort of Sigiriya built by King Kashyapa I of Anuradhapura.

Related pages

• Fortress
• Stronghold
• Salient

Other websites

• Information on Australian World War 2 Fortifications
• A Military History of Malta (Fortifications)
• Fortress Cologne
• Aerial photography: Fortress - Komárom - Hungary
• Petrovaradin - Greatest XVIII century fortress in Europe Archived 2006-12-05 at the Wayback Machine

Gallery

• Nakhal.fort.jpg

  Nakhal Fort, one of the best-preserved forts in Oman

• Mehrangarh Fort.jpg

  Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur (Rajasthan, India)

• Grainan of aileach.jpg

  Gríanán of Aileach, ancient Irish ringfort, Donegal

• GreatWallTower.jpg

  A restored portion of the Great Wall of China

• Coastal fortification, gun turret schematic.png

  Coastal fortification with a rotating gun turret.

• Fort Frederick Martello Tower in Kingston, Ontario at Royal Military College of Canada

• 1ABAREfORT.JPG

  Bare Island Fort in Botany Bay in a suburb called La Perouse, Sydney, Australia

15px	This article includes text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica. Please add to the article as needed.