Fortifikimi

Fortifikimi, Albanian for fortification, is the art and science of designing and constructing defensive works to protect places from attack and to control terrain. It encompasses a broad range of structures and systems, including city walls, forts and citadels, trenches and earthworks, moats and ramparts, bastions and casemates, as well as coastal batteries and shelters. Fortifications may serve military, political, or civilian purposes, such as defending borders, protecting towns, or securing critical infrastructure.

Historically, fortifications emerged in antiquity with fortified walls and hilltop strongholds, evolved in the medieval period with fortified towns and castles, and transformed in the early modern era through the advent of trace italienne and bastioned systems designed to withstand cannon fire. In the 17th and 18th centuries, military engineers refined principles of fortification, including angled walls, overlapping fields of fire, and the integration of terrain to maximize defense.

Construction materials varied by region but commonly included stone, brick, and earth. Earthworks and glacis were valued for their ability to absorb and deflect artillery; stone and brick provided durable barriers; moats added an additional obstacle to assault. Fortifications were often integrated within broader defensive lines, fortified towns, and coastal or border defenses.

In the modern era the rise of mobile warfare and air power reduced the central role of static fortifications, though bunkers, underground facilities, and coastal batteries remain in use or as heritage sites. Today fortifications are studied as military engineering and as cultural heritage, with many examples preserved for archaeology and tourism.