A bartizan (an alteration of ''bratticing''), also called a guerite, ''garita'', or ''échauguette'', or spelled bartisan, is an overhanging, wall-mounted

turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Objective turret, an indexable holder of multiple lenses in an optical microscope * Mi ...

projecting from the walls of late medieval and early-modern

fortification A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

s from the early 14th century up to the 18th century. Most frequently found at corners, they protected a warder and enabled him to see his surroundings. Bartizans generally are furnished with oillets or arrow slits. The turret was usually supported by stepped masonry

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

s and could be round, polygonal or square. Bartizans were incorporated into many notable examples of Scottish Baronial architecture. In the architecture of Aberdeen, the new Town House, built in 1868–74, incorporates bartizans in the West Tower.

Gallery

At walls

File:Round Bartizan, Fortaleza de Santiago, Sesimbra, Portugal.JPG, ''Guarita'' at Fortaleza de Santiago,

Sesimbra Municipality Sesimbra () is a municipality of Portugal, in the Setúbal District, lying at the foothills of the ''Serra da Arrábida'', a mountain range between Setúbal and Sesimbra. Due to its particular position at the Setúbal Bay, near the mouth of the Sa ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. File:Sudika Isla watchtower.jpg, ''Gardjola'' at

the Spur The Spur is a collection of interconnected Arts and Crafts bungalows in Clifton, Christchurch. The bungalows and layout of the site were both designed by Samuel Hurst Seager between 1902 and 1912. Seager purchased the site for the subdivision ...

, Senglea,

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. File:Canuelo-2.jpg, ''Garita'' at

El Cañuelo EL, El or el may refer to: Religion * El (deity), a Semitic word for "God" People * EL (rapper) (born 1983), stage name of Elorm Adablah, a Ghanaian rapper and sound engineer * El DeBarge, music artist * El Franco Lee (1949–2016), American ...

in the Bay of San Juan,

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. File:Bartizan.jpg, South-East Bartizan on

Greenknowe Tower Greenknowe Tower is a 16th-century tower house, located just west of the village of Gordon, in the Scottish Borders. Although a roofless ruin, the stonework of the tower is well preserved, and represents a fine example of a later tower house, bui ...

, Scottish Borders (and another one in the background) File:Ft de Chartres-bastion-1.jpg, Bartizan at Fort de Chartres, a French colonial era fort in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

. File:Garita at Castillo de San Cristobal-Detail.jpg, ''Garita'' at

Castillo San Cristóbal (San Juan) Castillo San Cristóbalwww.nps.gov

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

. File:JerusalemBevingrad.jpg, A bartizan-style British concrete position at Sergei courtyard,

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. This is probably the sole existing testimony of the British "

Bevingrad From 13–18 May 1948 Jewish forces from the Haganah and Irgun executed Operation Kilshon ("Pitchfork"). Its aim was to capture the Jewish suburbs of Jerusalem, particularly Talbiya in central Jerusalem. Operation At midnight on Friday 14 May, t ...

" constructed in 1946. File:Devil's Sentry Box or the "Garita del Diablo", en el Morro y el Atlantico.tiff, Devil's Sentry Box, or the "Garita del Diablo", San Cristóbal Castle, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

At towers

File:Town House, top of West Tower, Aberdeen, Peddie and Kinnear, 1868-74, photo Jane Cartney 2010RESIZED200.jpg, Bartizans on the West Tower of the new Town House in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, 1868–74. File:Torre de belem vista do tejo.jpg, Manueline ''Guaritas'' at

Belém Tower Belém Tower ( pt, Torre de Belém, links=no, ), officially the Tower of Vincent of Saragossa, Saint Vincent ( pt, Torre de São Vicente, links=no) is a 16th-century fortification located in Lisbon that served as a point of embarkation and dis ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Portugal. File:Feartagar Castle, County Galway - bartizans.jpg, Bartizans at

Feartagar Castle Feartagar Castle, also called Jennings Castle, is a tower house and National Monument located in County Galway, Ireland. Location Feartagar Castle lies on a hill east of Kilconly and northwest of Tuam, near to the River Nanny. History The to ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. File:'s-Heerenberg Huis Bergh Hof 4.jpg, Courtyard of Bergh House, 's-Heerenberg, Netherlands File:Vredespaleis 1.JPG, The Peace Palace bell tower,

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

, Netherlands File:A belváros (The city centre) - panoramio.jpg,

Martinstor The Martinstor (English ''Martin's Gate''), a former town fortification on Kaiser-Joseph-Straße, is the older of the two gates of Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, that have been preserved since medieval times. Both gates, the Martinstor and the S ...

, Freiburg, Germany

References

{{Fortifications Castle architecture Fortification (architectural elements) Fortified towers by type

Gallery

At walls

At towers

See also

References