Enceinte

Lore & Background

The enceinte may be laid out as a freestanding structure or combined with buildings adjoining the outer walls. It provided passive protection and was an important component of defense, featuring wall walks, battlements, embrasures, and covered firing positions. The outline of the enceinte, with its fortified towers and domestic buildings, shaped the silhouette of a castle.

Reader's Guide

The enceinte's ground plan is affected by terrain: hill castles often have an irregular polygonal shape dictated by topography, while lowland castles more frequently have a regular rectangular shape, as seen in quadrangular castles. From the 12th century onward, an additional enclosure called a Zwinger was often built in front of the enceinte of many European castles, affording an extra layer of defense by forming a killing ground. Depending on the size and type of fortifications, several wall systems could be built, sometimes used to keep dogs, wild boar, bears, or cattle. During the Baroque era, these enclosures were sometimes turned into pleasure gardens, as at the Zwinger in Dresden. The term also applies in architecture to the close or precinct of a cathedral, abbey, or castle. Notably, this definition differs from the more common use of 'enceinte' as a French adjective meaning 'pregnant.'

Did You Know?

• The term enceinte comes from Latin 'incinctus' meaning 'girdled, surrounded.'
• According to the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, the enceinte was strictly the continuous line of bastions and curtain walls forming 'the body of the place.'
• In early 20th-century fortification, the enceinte was usually the innermost continuous line of fortifications.