Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

Cavalier (fortification)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cavalier (fortification)
Remove ads

A cavalier is a fortification which is built within a larger fortification, and which is higher than the rest of the work. It usually consists of a raised platform within a fort or bastion, so as to be able to fire over the main parapet without interfering with the fire of the latter.[1] Through the use of cavaliers, a greater volume of fire can be obtained, but its greater height also makes it an easier target for a besieger's guns.[2]

Thumb
Illustration of a cavalier (the structure on the right, marked as "B") from Dictionnaire raisonné de l’architecture française du XIe au XVIe siècle by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc

There are two types of cavaliers:

  • Common cavalier – a raised gun platform without any additional defensive features
  • Defensible cavalier – a raised gun platform surrounded by a ditch. If the ditch cuts across the bastion's terreplein and is supported by cuts, the cavalier can also be considered as a retrenchment.[3]
Thumb
Antonio Ferramolino's Cavalier, Fort St. Angelo, Birgu, Malta
Remove ads

References

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads