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A bastion, a major invention in the field of the fortification system appeared in Mediterranean countries in the 16th century.
“Stone Fortification” .
Italians are believed to have invented it; in fact, a bastion came to Italy from Turkey, which may have brought the structure from the Middle East but the idea may have originated even as far as India. A bastion is a result of geometrical analysis of the field of fire and dead grounds. It is shaped in such a way that wherever enemy troops are, they are under fire and positions of defenders are under maximum protection. Military experts had been considering the optimum shape of defensive structures for a long time but it was introduction of artillery that forced them to adopt bastion system. Before it reached its perfection in the 18th century, there had been two basis varieties of the system. It was said that Italians built their bastions from stone and the Dutch from mud. The Old Italian model, which originally affected Zamość, advocated masonry-faced slopes, numerous casemates and bastions with flanks formed in such a way that they protected firing positions used for side (flank) defence. It was orillons that were used for this purpose. The Dutch proved to be masters of earthen structures, which were cheaper and often more resistant to enemy’s artillery fire than masonry ones. Bastions of the Old Dutch model did not have orillons or casemates but they had 2 or 3 levels of defence. Bastion embankment was surrounded with another lower embankment and on top of the bastion there was a retrenchment, a smaller earthen structure, higher than the bastion itself, with long-range cannons to fight enemy batteries. Old Dutch fortifications “as the name suggests” was very common in… Poland in the 17th century due to their simplicity, cheapness and effectiveness.

  • “Stone Fortification” . Vision of bastion close to old Italian school : massive stone walls, shoulders with ears, brick parapet. Citadel of Port Louis.

    Vision of bastion close to old Italian school : massive stone walls, shoulders with ears, brick parapet. Citadel of Port Louis.

  • “Fortification of mud”. . Vision of Heusden Fortress, built according to the principles of old Dutch school. Bastions dug out of the ground, without masonry, straight shoulders without ears, with two levels of defense. Extensive external works – ravelins and enwelops - gear line

    Vision of Heusden Fortress, built according to the principles of old Dutch school. Bastions dug out of the ground, without masonry, straight shoulders without ears, with two levels of defense. Extensive external works – ravelins and enwelops - gear line