Impregnable castles of the Middle Ages. Reichsburg Castle, Germany. Lichtenstein Castle, Germany

". Let's pay attention to another famous European fortress: impregnable fortress San Leo(Saint Lion). Despite its impregnability, this fortress was taken - and read about it below. In addition, the fact that in this fortress the Vatican kept one of its most dangerous prisoners - Count Cagliostro. More on this below. Let's start with a general overview.

The impregnable fortress of San Leo is located in the city of San Leo (San Leo) in Emilia Romagna, in the province of Rimini, at the confluence of the rivers San Marino and Marecchia, just west of the Italian border with San Marino. The population is about 3000 inhabitants.

Due to its geomorphological features, the area around the impregnable fortress of San Leo resembles a rocky island, where you can find beautiful examples of historical architecture for civil, military and religious purposes. Since the 15th century, a castle has been built here - that same impregnable fortress.

After the death of the last of the owners, the impregnable fortress of San Leo went to the Vatican. The popes kept their most dangerous opponents in the impregnable citadel, including Count Cagliostro, who spent the last 4 years of his adventurous life here in solitary confinement.

This mountain fortress attracts attention immediately. She seems impregnable from every angle:

If we take an old drawing ... It turns out that both the citadel and the city are on a high rocky base!

Here's what it looks like live:

And, in fact, the story of how the impregnable fortress of San Leo became attackable.

Two feudal warlords, Federigo da Montefeltro and Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, were neighbors and sworn enemies. During another strife, Federigo da Montefeltro led an army into the territory of Malatesta, to its capital, Rimini. But the army of Federigo da Montefeltro was hampered by the strategic key to this territory, the town of San Leo.

San Leo stood on an incredibly steep rock, and it was impossible to get close to him. The photos show why. Not locality but some fantasy. In addition, the citadel dominated the town, in which a large garrison left by Malatesta settled. Anyone, even if he broke into the city along the only road, would have been thrown down. And fall far ....

But there were daredevils. Happiness decided to try the son of the miller Matteo Grifone. Federigo gave the go-ahead. On a rainy and dark night - just right to break his neck in those places - two dozen fighters managed to climb the rocks to the city walls.

Volunteers took siege ladders with them, but the length was not enough. The stairs had to be tied together. Only two dared to take advantage of this shaky structure - Griffon himself and another soldier. Climbing over the wall, they saw that San Leo was peacefully resting, and his only defense was the chains stretched next to the houses across the road.

Apparently, this was a standard precaution against enemy cavalry. The griffin and his friend wrapped these chains around the houses of respectable citizens, quietly crept to the gate and let the others in. At night, Federigo's troops made their way into the town.

When dawn broke, the trumpeters played a triumph, and the soldiers of Malatesta, barely opening their eyes, saw enemy banners all over the town. As they descended from the fort to the upper gate of San Leo, they saw that the gate was locked. There were no signs of resistance: the townspeople could not get out of their houses. And the garrison of the fort decided that the inhabitants of San Leo had surrendered the city, and they themselves surrendered the citadel without a fight.

The subsequent campaign of Federigo da Montefeltro was successful, and Matteo Grifone subsequently made a career and became a major military leader in the Venetian service.

And now about the most famous prisoner of the fortress - about Count Cagliostro.

The great spirit caster, adventurer and alchemist Giuseppe Balsamo, known as Alessandro Cagliostro (Cagliostro), was imprisoned in the fortress in 1791 and died here on August 26, 1795.

The castle was built on top of a huge rock, almost sheer on both sides. The criminal was delivered here to the cell in a special box, in which the jailer, with the help of ropes and blocks, lifted him with the speed of the wind.

Cagliostro spent four years in a gloomy cell. Moreover, after he, according to eyewitnesses, managed to turn a rusty nail into a beautiful steel stiletto without any tools, the frightened guards put him in chains. Guarding Cagliostro was a hectic business. The jailers were ordered to be especially vigilant. Moreover, anonymous letters came to the papal curia, in which it was reported that the count's admirers intended to release him with the help of hot air balloon. But Cagliostro did not wait for the balloon.

Four years spent in cramped damp stone bag, did their job and the immortal count died. Some say - from pneumonia, others argue that from the poison that the jailers sprinkled on him. The most interesting thing is that there is absolutely no evidence that the tomb of Cagliostro is located in the vicinity of San Leo. It is because of this uncertainty that persistent rumors still circulate that the count is alive and is now gaining somewhere in India or Tibet.

Based on materials from http://sashabig.livejournal.com/10938.html and Vokrug Sveta magazine.

Hohenzollern Castle, Germany.

Previously, they all served as a defense against enemy raids, but today they are tourist attractions. Castles, monasteries or fortresses built in such a way that they are inaccessible, being on top of the cliffs, most visitors can only approach them from a distance.

Bled Castle, Slovenia. This medieval castle located on top of a 130-meter cliff above glacial lake Bled. They say it's the most ancient castle Slovenia.

Dar al-Hajar, Yemen, better known as the Imam's Palace on the Rock, is located on top of a cliff. It is an iconic Yemeni symbol, seen everywhere from postcards and magazines to bills and water bottles. Looking at it, one gets the impression that it has grown from the rocks on which it was built.

Trosky Fortress, Czech Republic. Approximately 100 kilometers northeast of Prague are the ruins of one of the most impregnable castles in the Czech Republic, whose walls and towers seem to grow out of the mouths of two formidable extinct volcanoes and surrounding rocks - the ruins of the Gothic castle of Troska. It is still not known for certain when this fortress was built. The first mention of her dates back to 1396, but historians believe that Trosky rose above stone cliffs many before.

Fortress of Guaita, San Marino Eagle Nest. Fortress Guaita is the oldest and most famous tower in San Marino. Erected in the 10th century over an abyss, as if grown out of a mountain, it has a powerful defensive system. Repeatedly rebuilt, Guaita acquired its final form only in the 15th century. Until the end of the 60s of the last century, it was a prison, now there is a museum of the history of San Marino.

Pitigliano: city on a rock, Tuscany, Italy. The Etruscans founded this settlement on a high hill (300 - 663 meters above sea level), making the city inaccessible to enemies - rocks surround Pitigliano from three sides.

Civita di Bagnoregio, Italy. This is another medieval castle town with a picturesque location, located on a hilltop between the valleys, you can get there only by footbridge. Founded by the Etruscans, this settlement existed during antiquity and the Middle Ages, but in 1695 an unusually strong earthquake broke out in the area, destroying many buildings, and landslides and collapses literally cut off the city, abandoned by the inhabitants, from the rest of the world. It was then that the city, which was on top of the cliff, was called the "Dead City".

Liechtenstein Castle in Germany. Liechtenstein Castle stands on the fearsome and at the same time mesmerizing with its steepness of the Bavarian Alps at an altitude of 817 m.

Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. The main tourist attraction and the heart of Scotland. For more than a thousand years, it has stood on top of the Edinburgh Rock, which was once a volcano. Thanks to this location, visitors to the castle enjoy breathtaking views of the city.

Slovenia is home to one of its most striking wonders - the Predjama Castle. For more than 700 years, a powerful, daring and impregnable castle has reigned on a 123-meter high rocky wall.

Hohenwerfen Castle, Austria. An impregnable medieval fortress towering over Salzburg.

Fort San Leo, Italy. The impregnable fortress of San Leo is located in the city of San Leo, in the province of Rimini. Due to its geomorphological features, the area around the impregnable fortress of San Leo resembles a rocky island. This mountain fortress attracts attention immediately. She seems unapproachable from every angle.

Mont Saint-Michel, France is an impenetrable fortress on a rocky island, towering 78 meters above the river valley.

Pena Palace, Portugal. On high rock above Sintra, the fantastic pseudo-medieval Pena Castle proudly flaunts. The castle and park were founded in 1840 as a summer royal residence on the site of a small abandoned monastery.

Taktsang Lhakhang, Bhutan. Taktsang Lhakhang (Dzong) is one of the most amazing monasteries in the world. It literally soars above the ground on a rock 3120 meters high. The date of foundation of the monastery is considered to be 1692, but in fact the caves of these places were used for prayers and meditation long before the construction of Taktsang.

Regardless of national and religious affiliation, these monasteries are like castles or well-fortified fortifications. The only path available for climbing, as a rule, is well camouflaged and known only to the inhabitants of the hermitage. Another common feature is that hermit monasteries are built not only in inaccessible, but also in amazing places. beautiful places, where nature itself initiates in the novice the enlightenment of the spirit and the rejection of the petty sinfulness of earthly life.

Meteora, Greece:

Transfiguration convent(Great Meteor)

Monastery of Varlaam or All Saints.

Monastery of the Holy Trinity.
The rock on which it stands monastery Holy Trinity, represents the most impressive view Meteor: 400 meters high cliff!

Monastery of Rusanu or Saint Barbara.

Monastery of Saint Stephen.

Monastery of St. Nicholas Anapavsas.

Meteora is one of the largest monastic complexes in Greece, famous primarily for its unique location on the tops of the rocks. The monastic center was formed around the 10th century and has existed continuously since then. Six active Orthodox monasteries are located on the tops of grandiose rocks located on the flat surface of the Thessalian plain. The rocks reach a height of 600 meters above sea level and are a rare geological phenomenon.

Phuktal Monastery in India. Phuktal Monastery or Phuktal Gompa, founded in the 12th century, is one of the most isolated monasteries in southeast region Ladakh state of Jammu and Kashmir in northern India. Phugtal Gompa is one of the few Buddhist monasteries in Ladakh that can only be reached on foot. Up to 70 monks live in the monastery.

Monastery of St. George Khozevita, Israel. Orthodox monastery of St. George is one of oldest monasteries in the world, located in the lower part of the valley (wadi) Kelt in the Judean Desert on the territory of the Palestinian Authority, 5 km from Jericho. Monastic buildings with ancient temples, chapels and gardens of the 6th century. hanging like swallow nests, on almost sheer cliffs. They are still inhabited by a few Greek monks.

The Sumela Monastery in Turkey stands on a sheer cliff above the Altindere valley at an altitude of 1200 m. It was founded before our era, its modern look conveyed to us from the thirteenth century and still attracts, despite the rainy and damp climate in this area, many pilgrims.

San Colombano can be safely called the most inaccessible monastery in Italy; it was founded almost 700 years ago. This shrine is located on the Piano delle Fugazze mountain pass. The monastery, carved into a sheer rock, looks simply bewitching; it literally hovered over a cliff.

But "hanging" monasteries can be found closer - for example, in the Crimea. Here is one of Crimean mountains Mangup. In the early Middle Ages, it was the capital of the Principality of Theodoro, and there were three male and one female monastery in the city. Here you can go down the man-made wooden and almost sheer stairs from the plateau or climb down the path.

Another such monastery in Crimea is the Inkerman St. Clement Monastery, which traces its history from about the 8th - 9th centuries. The main premises of the monastery are carved into the western cliff of the Monastery rock, on the plateau of which the ruins of the medieval fortress of Kalamita, founded in the 6th century, have been preserved.

Chapel of Saint Michael in Le Puy-en-Velay, France. It rises above the city at a height of 100 meters, as it is built on a basalt rock. 268 stone steps lead to the entrance, and from the top there is a picturesque view of the nearby surroundings.

Taung Kalat Monastery is located in Burma, in the middle of national park on top of a dormant volcano (737 meters above sea level). In order to climb to the monastery, you will need to overcome 777 steps.

Katskhi Pillar, Georgia. On top of a 40-meter limestone monolith stands a church built between the 6th and 8th centuries. Before the advent of Christianity, the Katskhin Pillar was revered local residents as a symbol of the god of fertility.

Xuankongsi, China. Xuankong-Su is translated from Chinese as a hanging monastery, and it can really be considered hanging, because most of the halls are located on wooden piles that rest against a sheer rock. Also, the rock itself is one of the walls of the monastery. Most of temple complex was built in the fifth century.

Monastery of Dionysios, Greece. The Athos monasteries are an outstanding landmark of world significance, one of the most famous monasteries of the complex is Dionisiat. He stands out unusual place location, the monastery was founded in the 14th century on top of a steep and incredibly narrow rock, the height of which is about 80 meters.

Mar Saba Monastery, Israel. "This building towers over deep canyon Kidron stream, is perhaps one of the most grandiose monuments of Judea. A huge, fortress-like monastery, in which more than a thousand monks once lived." In Israel, not far from Jerusalem, there is the Orthodox monastery of Mar Saba, known to many travelers under the name Lavra of Savva the Sanctified. appearance it resembles a powerful medieval fortress, the monastery bears the name of its founder and was founded in this place in the 5th century.

Monastery Ostrog, Montenegro. Located in Montenegro, the monastery is one of the few shrines in the world that can be visited by both Muslims and Catholics. The location of the monastery is also unique - it is literally built into a sheer rock wall and is located at an altitude of 840 meters above sea level. The founder of the monastery was the Bishop of Herzegovina Vasily, the shrine was founded in the 17th century.

Monastery of Montserrat, Spain. The beautiful monastery of Montserrat, founded in the 11th century, is the main religious center Catalonia. He is in an incredibly beautiful highlands, at an altitude of more than 720 meters above sea level.

Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet. Potala Palace - the tallest ancient building in the world, located at an altitude of 3,767 meters above sea level. Perched on Marpo Ri Hill in the Lhasa Valley, the Potala Palace stands 170 meters tall and is the largest monumental structure in all of Tibet.

Man is so constituted that he cannot live for a long time without war. The reasons for the contention can be different: the seizure of new territories, dissatisfaction with the existing system, religious beliefs. For millennia, mankind has built fortifications- impregnable fortresses that served as an insurmountable barrier to the enemy.

The principle of construction among different peoples is similar: a place was chosen that was difficult to even approach, the paths to it were blocked by swamps, stormy rivers or steep mountain slopes. In the heart of the castle was the citadel, surrounded by a deep moat with water, it was possible to get inside only by a suspension bridge.

The outer walls were made of stone, their thickness could reach up to ten meters. Galleries ran inside the walls, along the perimeter there were towers from which it was convenient to monitor the territory and, if necessary, fire. Under the hill, on which fortresses were usually built, they dug a whole network of underground passages, allowing you to move both inside the castle and leave it unnoticed.

The most impregnable fortresses in the world were more often captured by military cunning, but the siege and assault have always been troublesome.

Krak des Chevaliers (Syria)

Built in the 11th century by the Hospitallers, this military building remained for a long time an insurmountable obstacle for numerous Turkic tribes, a reliable defense of the borders of the Holy Land. Nomads tried more than once to capture Krak des Chevaliers, but in vain: the impregnable fortress always gave a reliable rebuff.

Only in 1271, the gates of the citadel were opened to the enemy, when the soldiers defending it received a fake letter from their commander with an order to surrender.

In 2013, this impregnable fortress was badly damaged by artillery shelling during military operations in Syria.

Mont Saint Michel (France)

The grandiose castle-island, existing since 709, today is world heritage and protected by UNESCO. Located in the north-west of France, it is rightfully considered one of the main attractions of this country.

I would like to believe that one day people will learn to live in peace and harmony, without wars and bloodshed, because otherwise humanity will face an unenviable end.

The bomber's main offensive armament is, of course, its bombs. But to protect against a mortal enemy - fighters - part of the carrying capacity has to be spent on defensive small arms. In order to effectively perform their functions, machine guns and cannons are associated with installations - structural systems that ensure the attachment of weapons, their mobility in two planes, the supply of ammunition, and aiming. The design of the installations changed over time, adapted at the place of installation on aircraft etc. A good example of this is the American B-17 bomber.

The B-17 is a large four-engine aircraft with a bulky fuselage and good payload capacity. It was created in the mid-30s, when much attention was paid to the aerodynamics of aircraft, when the experience of the First World War had not yet been discarded, and a search was underway for tactical methods for using heavy bomber aircraft. On the prototype and pre-production copies were defensive installations with manual control, but original design. During the war, the aircraft was constantly modified, armament was strengthened, installations of various types and designs were tested, so that the B-17 can be called a kind of "exhibition of achievements" of aviation defensive weapons.

Nasal installations. The experimental XB-17s and pre-production YB-17s had a glazed spinner in the nose, which could be rotated in a vertical plane (by the handles on its side). In a round cutout on its surface, a cardan machine-gun mount was mounted, closed by an almost spherical screen. Thanks to the rotating cook, it was possible to throw the installation in a circle towards the target.

Starting with the B-17B, the nose glazing was redesigned. The complex gimbal installation was replaced with a simple apple one. It was a ball with a hole for the barrel of a machine gun, which freely rotated between two flanges compressing it. The flanges could be mounted directly on the plexiglass of any screen or window by making an appropriate hole in it. The B-17B had one “apple”, then their number was increased.

Apple hinges had limitations - when they were installed on the side windows or the nose spinner, it was impossible to turn the barrel along the course. The simplest solution was to "press" the plexiglass thermally to "unfold" the "apple" forward.

On the B-17F, sometimes in the side windows, the apple installations were replaced with gimbal installations, while the sponson fairing was squeezed out, which made it possible to move the cone being shot closer to the axis of the aircraft.

Starting with the B-17F, the side windows were enlarged. For some aircraft, the cardan machine-gun mount was fixed in the front shield. This setup later became standard on the B-17G.

On the variant of the YB-40 escort fighter, an installation similar to the Bendix ventral turret, which was installed on the first B-17Es, was mounted under the bombardier's cockpit. Later it became standard for the “G” modification, just closed with a slightly modified dome.

One of the YB-40s had Consolidated turrets in the nose and tail, modeled on the B-24.

Upper settings. Starting with the B-17E modification, a Sperry two-machine gun turret appeared on the fairing, which was serviced by a flight engineer.

Upper installation at the end of the fairing above the radio operator's cabin. Initially, a kingpin with a parallelogram bracket was installed, replaced by an arc with an apple joint in the center. The arc was hinged to the sidewalls of the hatch.

On the YB-40, a Bendix turret was installed in the radio operator's cabin instead of the upper hatch.

Lower settings. On pre-production aircraft and the B-17B, the rear hemisphere was defended by four blister mounts: the top, ventral and two side mounts of approximately the same design. On the B-17C and B-17D, instead of a blister, they put a “bath”. Machine guns, together with cartridge boxes, were mounted on a ring with a horizontal hinge. The ring could move along the side chutes. In the stowed position, the installation was moved back.

On the B-17E modification, the lower bath was first replaced with a Bendix turret mounted remotely using a periscope. The periscope stood behind the turret, closer to the tail, its head was covered with a transparent blister.

Starting with the 113th instance of the Bendix, they changed to an inhabited retractable tower of the Sperry company with a spherical screen of a well-known type.

Side installations. On the YB-17, on the sides of the fuselage, machine guns were mounted on gimbals: the machine gun was hinged in a ring, the ring was hinged on a transparent ogive-shaped screen in the form of a blister. Screens for firing rotated inside the fuselage.

On the B-17B, B-17C and B-17D, the side blisters were replaced with flat elliptical sliding screens with sliding doors, leaving the old cutouts in the sides. The machine guns rotated on inclined pins, which made it possible to throw the machine gun along the window.

On the B-17E and B-17F, the windows for the side machine guns were made rectangular, they were closed from the wind by a sliding panel with a porthole in the middle. There was a retractable windshield in front of the window. The B-17E machine guns were mounted on vertical pins, ammunition was supplied from removable boxes.

Then the entire opening was glazed, the cardan machine-gun mount was mounted in the center of the window on the "sill".

In YB-40, to protect the side gunners, two armored shields were placed on the side machine guns.

Also, instead of one machine gun, two were installed, while the openings were shifted by a ledge, asymmetrically, so that the arrows did not interfere with each other while firing at the same time.

Starting from the B-17E, it was redone tail section: at the end mounted a two-machine gun installation, induced by hand, and a machine gunner's cabin.

On the B-17G, the stern mount began to look like the B-29 mount, but had manual guidance.

The ancient fortresses of the world - the silent temples of chivalry - have become a symbol of the Middle Ages. They served as protection against attack by enemies, housing for the nobility, safe storage, and sometimes a prison. Impregnable fortresses were built on the newly conquered territories in order to strengthen power and demonstrate their power. And in peacetime, knightly tournaments were held here.

Unlike other ancient structures such as monasteries, temples or cathedrals, medieval fortresses served several purposes at once - it was both a house for the owner's family, and a place of entertainment for guests, and a center of administration and justice. But these were strong enough fortifications to protect their inhabitants in the event of an attack by enemies. Later, the fortresses and castles of the world gradually changed their meaning, dividing into objects that served only one purpose: forts built for defense and majestic palaces, exclusively for the residence of the nobility.

Early fortresses

In the XIII century BC. The Hittites built stone walls with square towers in Turkey. IN Ancient Egypt 1500 BC built fortified buildings of mud brick with massive gates and square towers to protect the southern borders. From the 16th to the 12th centuries BC small separate kingdoms dominated Greece, each with its own stronghold.

In England, the first fortresses began to appear in the 5th century BC. Maiden Castle in Dorset is one of the most impressive examples of a pre-Roman fortress. Large earthen ditches and embankments are crowned with a wooden palisade wall. However, they did not survive the advance of the Romans. The Romans quickly overcame the hillforts and consolidated their power by building standard rectangular forts across much of England.

Medieval fortresses

IN medieval Europe the first castles appeared in the 9th century, when the Carolingian empire collapsed as a result of Viking raids. The nobles fought for power and territory. They built fortresses and castles to defend their land. These were at first simple, wooden structures supported by natural defenses such as rivers and hills. But soon the builders added earth mounds and ditches around the fortress.

The formation of fortified estates led to the development of feudalism. Princes and lords kept knights to protect their possessions. In the constant struggle for power, some have become almost as powerful as the ruler of the country. So William, Duke of Normandy, after many years of war, became real threat the king of France. In September 1066 he invaded England, claiming the English throne. Fortresses played an important role in the war. William built his first defensive post within the walls of the old Roman fort at Pevensey, then the castles at Hastings and Dover. After winning the Battle of Hastings, he traveled to London, where he was crowned King of England.

Many early wooden fortresses were later rebuilt in stone. The first stone buildings, as a rule, are concentrated on a large tower. The earliest of these was built in 950 at Due-la-Fontaine in France. In 1079, work began on a large stone tower in London, now known as the White Tower ( White Tower) in the Tower of London. The stone tower was much stronger than the wooden one, and the height provided additional protection for the soldiers and good view for the line of fire.

Some fortresses were built rectangular (in Ukraine), others round (), square (in Ukraine), or multilateral (in Wales). Each fortress had its own unique character and different designs. The corners of the fortress masonry were more vulnerable than the evenly curved surface.

In the 13th century, during the Crusades, Western architects had the opportunity to study the massive fortifications of the Byzantine Empire. Throughout England and France, fortifications began to appear with a concentric design, as in Constantinople. These fortresses were completely surrounded by an outer chain of walls low enough to allow free direct fire from the inner walls. Good examples of such structures can be seen in castles and in Wales, the first British forts of concentric design. In Ukraine a prime example such a defense system is in Sudak.

When the struggle for power subsided, the construction of fortresses continued at a leisurely pace. At some points in history, they guarded the king from the rebellious population and the threat of invasion. This led to the construction and - the most impressive in size among medieval castles and fortresses of Wales. The largest building in Ukraine is.

Fortress sunset

During the Renaissance, the weakening of warfare changed the importance of ancient fortresses as fortified dwellings. The nobility sought more comfortable homes, and forts manned by professional soldiers took over defensive duties. Some fortresses remained centers of local administration, or served as prisons. Others turned into luxurious castles and palaces, which were often cheaper to build using building materials from the old fortress.

The fate of many buildings was sealed in civil war. Throughout the country, the surviving fortresses were occupied as bases for the opposing forces. But after the victory, they tried to destroy them in order to prevent the possibility of being used in future conflicts.

Eventually, the introduction of gunpowder led to the disappearance of traditional fortresses as military installations. They could no longer withstand cannon fire. The fortresses not destroyed by wars turned into peaceful mansions, or became the center of a fortified city that grew up around them.