Contrescarpe

This article covers part of a fortress wall. For the street in Bremen see Contrescarpe (Bremen) . For the "Contrescarpe" in Paris s. Place de la Contrescarpe

Main moat of Fort de Vézelois , on the right the Contrescarpe with the covered path on the top of the wall (the glacis begins where the white fence is), opposite the Escarpe wall

The Contrescarpe (other spelling: Contrescarpe or Contreescarpe) is the outer wall (or embankment) of the main ditch around a fortress. The opposite (inner) moat wall (or embankment) is called Escarpe .

layout

The Contrescarpe could either be carried out as an embankment or in masonry. Which was chosen mostly had to do with the available funds. In the more modern fortresses, galleries and fighting stalls ( trench strokes ) were built into the Contrescarpe . On the Contrescarpe was the so-called covered path , a patrol that was protected from direct enemy fire by a heaped embankment. This gently sloping embankment was known as the glacis . In the jutting corners of the bastions , log houses and weapon stations were often laid out on the Contrescarpe .

literature

• "Encyclo" "Encyclopédie Larousse" du XXe, Paris, 1932
• “Dictionnaire encyclopédique Larousse”, édition 1998
• Hartwig Neumann "Fortress architecture and fortification technology" Bernard & Graefe 1988