citadel

citadel, fortified structure that is often located within a city or town. While designed to protect or subjugate social groups, citadels often played a significant role in shaping culture. The word is from the Latin civitas ( “citizenship,” “the state,” or “city”) via the Italian cittadella (“small city”).

The Indus civilization (c. 2500 bce–1700 bce) featured some of the earliest examples of citadels, which hosted military, government, and religious structures as well as pools to store water. Cities such as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, both of which are in modern-day Pakistan, featured prominent citadels. Similarly, Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey, fostered the emergence of citadels in about 2600 bce, and the structure was at the heart of such cities as Troy, Kültepe, and Alaca Hüyük. These settlements witnessed the development of distinctive foodways, architecture, and pottery, such as wheel-made plain wares. During this time, fortified compounds known as castros began to appear on the Iberian Peninsula. Based on hill forts and oppida (towns that were typically fortified), they had features that reflected coastal trading endeavours, as exemplified by Cividade de Terroso in modern-day Portugal.

The citadel played a significant role in the early ancient Greek city as well. In fact, these cities were based on citadels, which were typically located in the centre. The need for protection conveyed by the citadel is noticeable in such Mycenaean towns as Mycenae, where it dates back to the late Bronze Age and whose access is challenged both by its location atop a hill and by a narrow path through the Lion Gate. Beehive tombs housing gold face masks, bronze swords, carved figurines, and pottery have been found, testifying to the artistic dimensions of the culture of the time. Similarly, the citadel at Tiryns included a megaron, an audience hall fronted by a two-columned porch and courtyard, as well as extensive corbeling in the hallways.

Citadels in medieval and early modern Europe were built to provide shelter in times of siege, as occurred in Nice, France, in 1543 at the hands of Ottoman corsair Barbarossa. They were also built to keep inhabitants subjugated, as exemplified by the citadel of Barcelona, which was built by Philip V in 1716 to prevent the Catalans from rebelling against his forces. Citadels were typically the strongest part of fortifications with bastions, forming part of the outer wall for economic purposes. The police and army were developed in the citadel, which functioned as the last line of defense when other components of the fortification system were imperiled.

Some citadels have nonetheless been destroyed owing to their negative connotation and their association with a given context. A case in point is the aforementioned citadel of Barcelona, which was later turned into a prison and eventually replaced with the Parc de la Ciutadella. Others were destroyed by invaders, as exemplified by the Iberian castros at the hands of the ancient Romans, in response to the uncooperative stance of the local population. Natural hazards have also had their say, as in 2003 when an earthquake devastated Bam, an ancient fortified settlement in modern-day Iran, located at the heart of the Silk Road.

Certain citadels have been named World Heritage sites by UNESCO due to their exceptional historic value. The Erbil citadel, in modern-day Iraqi Kurdistan, is a rare extant example of a settlement that developed on an ovoid-shaped tell (a mound in the Middle East composed of remains of successive communities) and is one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited sites. Located in what was once the noteworthy Assyrian administrative centre Arbela, it is laid out in a fanlike pattern that originated when it was part of the Ottoman Empire. Similarly, Naryn-Kala, the citadel of Derbent, Dagestan, Russia, was the political, administrative, and military centre of the settlement, which was strategically significant in the western Caspian Sea until the 1800s. Nowadays, it includes ruins and remains such as a bath, water tanks, a church, a mosque, and the khan’s palace.

Several other citadels are located within UNESCO sites. These include the fortifications of Vauban in France, which host several prominent museums; Sighișoara, Romania, which testifies to the culture of Transylvanian Saxons; and the complex of monuments in Hue, Vietnam.