Enceinte

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Enceinte of Khotyn Fortress in Ukraine
The keep of Château de Vincennes protected by its own isolated enceinte
Krak des Chevaliers, a concentric castle

Enceinte (from

wall towers and curtain walls enclosing the position. For a settlement, it would refer to the main town wall with its associated gatehouses
, towers, and walls.

According to the

1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, the term was strictly applied to the continuous line of bastions and curtain walls forming "the body of the place", this last expression being often used as synonymous with enceinte.[citation needed] However, the outworks or defensive wall close to the enceinte were not considered as forming part of it. In early 20th-century fortification, the enceinte was usually simply the innermost continuous line of fortifications.[2]

In architecture, generally, an enceinte is the close or precinct of a cathedral, abbey, castle, etc.[2]

This definition of the term differs from the more common use of enceinte as a French adjective, which means "pregnant".[3]

Features

The enceinte may be laid out as a freestanding structure or combined with buildings adjoining the outer walls.

battlements), embrasures and covered firing positions.[citation needed
]

The outline of the enceinte, with its fortified towers and domestic buildings, shaped the silhouette of a castle. The ground plan of an enceinte is affected by the terrain. The enceintes of hill castles often have an irregular polygonal shape dictated by the topography, whilst lowland castles more frequently have a regular rectangular shape, as exemplified by quadrangular castles.[citation needed]

From the 12th century onwards, an additional enclosure called a

Baroque era it was not uncommon for these enclosures to be turned into pleasure gardens as for example in the Zwinger at Dresden.[citation needed
]

Notes

  1. ^ Friar 2003, p. 105.
  2. ^ a b Chisholm 1911, p. 368.
  3. ^ "Definition of ENCEINTE". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  4. ^ Piper 1967, p. 319.

References

  • Friar, Stephen (2003), The Sutton Companion to Castles, Stroud: Sutton Publishing, p. 105,
    ISBN 978-0-7509-3994-2
  • Piper, Otto (1967), "Burgenkunde. Bauwesen und Geschichte der Burgen", in Piperer, R.; et al. (eds.), Neue, verbesserte und erweiterte Auflage, Munich etc, p. 319{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

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