A turret (from Italian: torretta, little tower; Latin: turris, tower) is a small tower that extends vertically from a building's wall, such as a medieval castle. The word can also refer to the structure itself. Turrets were often found on military buildings in the past, but are now used on public buildings, factories, storage units, and even homes.
They were commonly found on castles to provide soldiers with defensive positions while keeping their presence on the side of the fortress hidden from casual observers. Today they are most often seen on casinos, hotels, and other large buildings for aesthetic purposes or as high-security prisons. They can also be found on some churches for similar reasons as well as to provide views of the city.
The word comes from the Turkish word Tatavul, which means "three-sided". This refers to the fact that each side of a turret faces outward, giving the appearance of having three sides. Before the invention of gunpowder, turrets were necessary for defense because cannons were inefficient at reaching far distances. Now they are used for aesthetics or as high-security prison cells.
There are several different types of turrets including: watchtowers, signal towers, machine guns, and cannon.
If it projects higher than the building, it may have a staircase. A turret, on the other hand, is not always higher than the rest of the structure; in this instance, it is often part of a room that can be easily stepped into—see the turret of Chateau de Chaumont in the collection of turrets, which also depicts a turret encircled by a turret enclosed by a room.
The word comes from turris, Latin for "tower." This room was once filled with furniture or equipment used to defend the castle or town. Today, it usually has only one purpose: to give the owner a view of the landscape beyond his-or her own neighborhood.
The room above the living quarters is called a loft, but it can also be called a garret. A high ceiling and no windows make it difficult to live there, so these rooms are usually empty except when needed for storage. When guests arrive at a hotel room, for example, they first come into a small hallway with a closet. Then they go up some stairs to the loft.
People put things in lofts for two reasons: because they like the look of old books or paintings hanging in a room (especially bedrooms) or because they want to be able to walk downstairs without getting their feet wet (if the house has an indoor pool).
In modern buildings this space is usually given over to storage.
A fortified tower (also called as a defense tower, castle tower, or simply a tower in context) is one of the defensive constructions used in fortifications such as castles, alongside curtain walls. They are usually found at the entrance to a fortress or city, where they provide protection for soldiers and civilians inside the fortress or city.
These towers were often the most important element of a fortress's defenses: their height made them difficult to attack by foot soldiers, while their thickness provided protection from arrows and other projectiles.
They also served as lookouts, houses, prisons, and places where people could take refuge if needed. Some even had their own wells and cisterns for water storage.
In order to attack a fortress, an army needs to get through its outer defenses, which usually includes a wall with a gate leading into the fortress. The attacker tries to come as close to the fortress as possible without being seen, when suddenly he hears the sound of drums signaling that someone has spotted his position. At this point, he must withdraw or risk being attacked by the garrison.
Towers are usually built on top of another, with the ground floor used for storing weapons or for housing troops. They can be single stories high, but usually have multiple floors for increased defense capabilities.
Corner turret with an overhang A bastion is a tiny tower located at the end of a curtain wall or in the center of an outer wall. A battlement is a thin wall erected along the wall walk's outer perimeter to defend soldiers from attack. In sieges, a belfry is a tall, moveable wooden structure on wheels. A lattice (see hoarding) or balcony completes the picture.
Bastions and turrets were often painted bright colors, which made them attractive additions to a city wall. They also provided better views than the more mundane parts of the wall surrounding a town or castle.
Turrets usually have flat roofs while bastions usually have conical roofs. Both types of towers can be as high as buildings allowed without violating zoning laws, but generally they're much shorter than that. Often there are small windows near ground level in both turrets and bastions. There may also be small doors or openings for defenders to fire through.
Towers usually serve as watchtowers, but they can also be used for storage or as fighting positions. For example, soldiers stationed in a corner turret could shoot anyone trying to break into the walled city via the main gate.
There are many different kinds of towers built for various purposes.
The main tower around which this was erected was still known as the Keep, and it was normally the tallest and most powerful building in the fortress. During a siege or invasion, it was also utilized as the last line of defense. A moat is a body of water that surrounds a castle's outer wall. The word comes from the Old French mouet, meaning "meadow" or "field." In modern times, the term has taken on its current meaning of "a large area of open land with trees and green grass."
These days, people usually think of castles as being big and powerful, but they were not always so. Early castles were simply small fortified houses with a high protective wall built around an inner courtyard. They were often made of wood, with some stone used for ornamentation. As time went on, these early castles became more and more complex, until they reached their present form - a huge fortified residence built into a hill or rock face. These castles are known as fortresses.
People have been building castles for thousands of years, but the first true castles appeared in Europe during the 11th century. The most famous builder of these early castles was Henry II, king of England. He built many battles into his home country of France, including Château Gaillard near Paris and Le Conquet in the Normandy region.
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