Maps and Exploration

Bastion fort

A bastion fort or trace italienne (a phrase derived from non-standard French, meaning 'Italian outline') is a style of fortification developed in Italy during the early modern period in response to the ascendancy of gunpowder weapons such as cannon, which rendered earlier medieval approaches to fortification obsolete. The design is characterized by a polygonal curtain wall with pointed bastions protruding from each corner. Compared with earlier round and rectangular towers, the arrowhead shape of the bastions eliminated blind spots, called dead ground, that could shelter attackers, while defenders on the flank of each bastion could fire from protected positions at enemies attempting to scale or breach the adjacent curtain wall. The multi-pointed shape of a fort that encloses a town or other area resembles a star, giving rise to the commonly used term star fort.

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See also

• ▸Cape Hunter
• ▸Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long
• ▸Bischdorf, Lübbenau

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