Postern
The postern of Newport Arch, built by the ancient Romans in Lincolnshire, England, located to the right of the larger main arch, and used for pedestrian traffic.
A postern is a secondary door or gate in a fortification such as a city wall or castle curtain wall. Posterns were often located in a concealed location which allowed the occupants to come and go inconspicuously. In the event of a siege, a postern could act as a sally port, allowing defenders to make a sortie on the besiegers.
The term is occasionally used in other contexts referring to a secondary door placed after a main entrance.
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Posterns. |
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/8/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.