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The most famous of these are the largely extant Aurelian Walls of Rome and the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople, together with partial remains elsewhere. The Romans fortified their cities with massive, mortar-bound stone walls. Likewise, the famous walls of the Forbidden City in Beijing were established in the early 15th century by the Yongle Emperor. The large walls of Pingyao serve as one example. In terms of China's longest and most impressive fortification, the Great Wall sections had been built prior to the Qin Dynasty (221-207 BC) and subsequently connected and fortified during the Qin dynasty, although its present form was mostly an engineering feat and remodeling of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD) during the 15th and 16th centuries. Although stone walls were built in China during the Warring States (481-221 BC), mass conversion to stone architecture did not begin in earnest until the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). 1600-1050 BC), as the capital at ancient Ao had enormous walls built in this fashion (see siege for more info). rammed earth) walls were built in ancient China since the Shang Dynasty (c. In classical era Greece, the city of Athens built a long set of parallel stone walls called the Long Walls that reached their guarded seaport at Piraeus. In ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae (famous for the huge stone blocks of its ' cyclopean' walls). The fortifications were continuously expanded and improved. In Central Europe, the Celts built large fortified settlements known as oppida, whose walls seem partially influenced by those built in the Mediterranean. Initially, these fortifications were simple constructions of wood and earth, which were later replaced by mixed constructions of stones piled on top of each other without mortar. īabylon was one of the most famous cities of the ancient world, especially as a result of the building program of Nebuchadnezzar, who expanded the walls and built the Ishtar Gate.Įxceptions were few - notably, ancient Sparta and ancient Rome did not have walls for a long time, choosing to rely on their militaries for defense instead. 2500 B.C.) in present day south-east Afghanistan has defensive walls and square bastions of sun dried bricks. The stone and mud brick houses of Kot Diji were clustered behind massive stone flood dykes and defensive walls, for neighboring communities quarreled constantly about the control of prime agricultural land. Many of these settlements had fortifications and planned streets.
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By about 3500 B.C., hundreds of small farming villages dotted the Indus floodplain. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were also fortified. The Assyrians deployed large labour forces to build new palaces, temples and defensive walls. Before that, the city (or rather proto-city) of Jericho in what is now the West Bank had a wall surrounding it as early as the 8th millennium BC. Uruk in ancient Sumer (Mesopotamia) is one of the world's oldest known walled cities. The practice of building these massive walls, though having its origins in prehistory, was refined during the rise of city-states, and energetic wall-building continued into the medieval period and beyond in certain parts of Europe.įrom very early history to modern times, walls have been a near necessity for every city. In the Middle Ages, the right of a settlement to build a defensive wall was a privilege, and was usually granted by the so-called "right of crenellation" on a medieval fortification. Walls may only be crossed by entering the appropriate city gate and are often supplemented with towers. rivers or coastlines) may be incorporated in order to make the wall more effective. Depending on the topography of the area surrounding the city or the settlement the wall is intended to protect, elements of the terrain (e.g.
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Beyond their defensive utility, many walls also had important symbolic functions - representing the status and independence of the communities they embraced.Įxisting ancient walls are almost always masonry structures, although brick and timber-built variants are also known. Generally, these are referred to as city walls or town walls, although there were also walls, such as the Great Wall of China, Hadrian's Wall, and the metaphorical Atlantic Wall, which extended far beyond the borders of a city and were used to enclose regions or mark territorial boundaries. In ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements. Part of the Great Wall of China, a UNESCO World Heritage SiteĪ defensive wall (or a "Rampart") is a fortification used to protect a city or settlement from potential aggressors. See also: List of cities with defensive walls
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