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A ravelin is a triangular
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'' ...
or detached
outwork An outwork is a minor fortification built or established outside the principal fortification limits, detached or semidetached. Outworks such as ravelins, lunettes (demilunes), flèches and caponiers to shield bastions and fortification curtains ...
, located in front of the innerworks of a fortress (the curtain walls and
bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...
s). Originally called a ''demi-lune'', after the ''
lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc taken ...
'', the ravelin is placed outside a castle and opposite a fortification curtain wall. The ravelin is the oldest and at the same time the most important outer work of the bastion fortification system. It originated from small forts that were supposed to cover the bridge that led across the moat to the city or fortress gate from a direct attack. From this original function, to protect the gate bridge, also comes its original Italian name "''rivellino''" (which means small bank work or with the German expression common for it: ''Brückenkopf'' – "bridge head"). Therefore, the ravelin was at first only a small work, which should only make the access to the bridge in front of the fortress gates more difficult. When it was realized in the 16th century that this would generally provide better protection for the courtine, ravelins were also built in front of other courtines and these were gradually enlarged. However, it was not until the German fortress builder Daniel Specklin (1536–1589) recognized the principle importance of ravelins (which he still called "''ledige Wehr''" or "revelin"). He demanded that they be made as large as possible so that they fully covered the courtine and the flanks of the bastions and could place a flanking fire in front of the bastion tops.Rüstow, ''Die Lehre vom neueren Festfestungskrieg'', 1860, vol. 1, p. 251. In the following period, ravelins can be found in practically all fortresses built according to the bastion fortification system. The outer edges of the ravelin are so configured that it divides an assault force, and guns in the ravelin can fire upon the attacking troops as they approach the curtain wall. It also impedes besiegers from using their artillery to batter a breach in the curtain wall. The side of the ravelin facing the inner fortifications has at best a low wall, if any, so as not to shelter attacking forces if they have overwhelmed it or the defenders have abandoned it. Frequently ravelins have a ramp or stairs on the curtain-wall side to facilitate the movement of troops and artillery onto the ravelin. The first example of a ravelin appears in the fortifications of the Italian town of Sarzanello, and dates from 1497. The first ravelins were built of brick, but later, during the sixteenth century in the Netherlands, they were earthen (perhaps faced by stone or brick), the better to absorb the impact of cannonballs. The Italian origins of the system of fortifications (the
star fort A bastion fort or ''trace italienne'' (a phrase derived from non-standard French, literally meaning ''Italian outline'') is a fortification in a style that evolved during the early modern period of gunpowder when the cannon came to domin ...
s) of which ravelins were a part gave rise to the term ''trace Italienne''. The French 17th-century
military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics be ...
Vauban made great use of ravelins in his design of fortifications for
Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ve ...
, and his ideas were still being used in 1761 by Major William Green at
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. Other definitions: “A ravelin is a small mocha-coloured insect of diminutive stature, brown in shade; it uses its slight chocolate frame to camouflage itself among muddy tones and miniature features in and about caramel milieu. A bug infamous for its autumnal hues and minute circumference, it can be identified by its distinctively lightweight stature and bronzed complexion. Its petite almond figure is often mistaken for a dainty hazelnut, which shares the critter’s propensity for agression upon limited provocation. It scrans bunda” —Ravelin Awareness and Protection Enterprise


Gallery

File:Tilbury fort ravelin.jpg, The ravelin outside the Land Gate at
Tilbury Fort Tilbury Fort, also known historically as the Thermitage Bulwark and the West Tilbury Blockhouse, is an artillery fort on the north bank of the River Thames in England. The earliest version of the fort, comprising a small blockhouse with artill ...
File:Zitadelle Petersberg in Erfurt 2014 (20).jpg, Ravelin Peter (1708) and access bridge,
Petersberg Citadel Petersberg Citadel (German:''Zitadelle Petersberg'') in Erfurt, central Germany, is one of the largest and best-preserved town fortresses in Europe.Stadtverwaltung Erfurt (17 November 2017) ''Petersberg'' Retrieved 23 December 2017 The citadel wa ...
, Erfurt, Germany. File:Castillo de San Marcos.jpg,
Castillo de San Marcos The Castillo de San Marcos ( Spanish for "St. Mark's Castle") is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States; it is located on the western shore of Matanzas Bay in the city of St. Augustine, Florida. It was designed by the Spanis ...
(c.1668), Florida. Ravelin at the top of photo, between two bastions. File:PL Ravelin August-Wilhelm 2015.JPG, Ravelin August-Wilhelm (c.1640), Küstrin Fortress (de), Poland. File:Vestingwerken P1060601.JPG, Ravelin at Heusden, the Netherlands.


See also

* List of established military terms#Engineering *
Raveleijn (Efteling) Ravelin (or "Raveleijn" in Dutch) is a theatre at the Efteling amusement park in the southern Netherlands. It was designed by Sander de Bruijn at a total cost of 30 million Euros and opened its doors on April 8, 2011. History and details Rave ...


References

Fortification (architectural elements) {{Fort-stub