Fortification (architectural elements)

Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time.

A trench is a type of excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared to its length (as opposed to a simple hole).

In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems.

A gabion (from Italian gabbione meaning "big cage"; from Italian gabbia and Latin cavea meaning "cage") is a cage, cylinder, or box filled with rocks, concrete, or sometimes sand and soil for use in civil engineering, road building, military applications and landscaping.

A gun turret is a location from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility, and some cone of fire.

Stone walls are a kind of masonry construction that has been used for thousands of years.

Tora Bora (Pashto: توره بوړه‎, Black Cave), known locally as Spīn Ghar (Pashto: سپین غر‎, White Mountain), is a cave complex, part of the White Mountains (Safēd Kōh) of eastern Afghanistan.

A bastion (also named bulwark, derived from the Dutch name "bolwerk"), is an angular structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of an artillery fortification.

A palisade—sometimes called a stakewall or a paling—is typically a fence or wall made from wooden stakes or tree trunks and used as a defensive structure or enclosure.

A chemin de ronde (French, "round path"' or "patrol path"; French pronunciation: ​[ʃəmɛ̃ də ʁɔ̃d])—also called an alure, allure or, more prosaically, a wall-walk—is a raised protected walkway behind a castle battlement.

A cofferdam (also called a coffer) is a temporary enclosure built within, or in pairs across, a body of water and constructed to allow the enclosed area to be pumped out, creating a dry work environment for the major work to proceed.

The Fahrpanzer was a mobile artillery piece made prior to World War I in Germany, implemented in several German fortifications from 1890 onwards and exported to several foreign military powers prior to the outbreak of hostilities.

A boulevard (French, from Dutch: Bolwerk – bulwark, meaning bastion), often abbreviated Blvd, is a type of large road, usually running through a city.

A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall.

Dzong architecture is a distinctive type of fortress (Wylie: rdzong, IPA: [tzɦoŋ˩˨]) architecture found in mainly in bhutan and the former tibet.

An alcázar (pronunciation: /ˈæl kəˌzɑːr/) is a type of Moorish castle or palace in Spain and Portugal built during Muslim rule, although some were founded by Christians.

In military science, a blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions.

A merlon is the solid upright section of a battlement or crenellated parapet in medieval architecture or fortifications.

A rampart in fortification architecture is a length of bank or wall forming part of the defensive boundary of a castle, hillfort, settlement or other fortified site.

A reduit is a fortified structure such as a citadel or a keep into which the defending troops can retreat when the outer defences are breached.

In fortification, the term entrenchment (Italian: trincieramento, Maltese: trunċiera) can refer to either a secondary line of defence within a larger fortification (better known as a retrenchment), or an enceinte designed to provide cover for infantry, having a layout similar to a city wall but on a smaller scale.