The second phase of construction of the Fortress is marked by series of interventions from 1726 to 1731. The square fortress (initial shape) with the hornwerk towards the river Sava and the ravelin on the other three sides was built in 1715 according to Will and Perette’s projects, and on a direct command of Prince Eugene Savoy in preparation for a war with Turkey (1716-1717). On the ramparts and bastions there were 150 guns. The fortress was fully prepared to defend 4,000 soldiers, while the reserves of water and living aided the maintenance and the thirty-day siege. With its stretches, this baroque structure is the largest building of its kind in Croatia, and among the largest in Europe. Brod Fortressīrod Fortress in Croatia is a sample of baroque star-shaped fort, located on the river Sava, and also a monument of zero categories and sights of Slavonski Brod town that makes its core. Indeed, the reign of the star fort only came to an end with the arrival of explosive shells towards the latter end of the 19th century.ĭid you know … At first, the fortifications were made of wooden logs (palisades) and stones (citadels). Many are acclaimed in historical record as key turning points in major battles. If forces did manage to reach the base, they could not be effectively engaged either as shooting straight down is very awkward.ĭespite originating in the mid-15th century in Italy, by the 18th century star forts were a common sight in France, Germany, Croatia, Hungary and many other western nations (later spreading as far east as Japan).
These advantages were generally not granted by existing strongholds, as their flat-on walls meant infantry could only fire in a small arc in one direction – ie perpendicular to the wall.
This was due, simply, to the geometry of their bastions.ĭid you know … Crusaders did not have enough manpower, so they built massive walls and with prominent towers and complicated entrances.īy creating a series of triangular spits that could be manned by gunners, attacking forces could be engaged over a far greater angle – over 180 degrees – and, more importantly, those forces that did reach the walls, could be continuously fired on from the side and rear. The second reason why the star-shaped fort became widely adopted was that while it limited effective angles of attack for the offensive enemy force, it maximized those of the defensive one. Further, any shot that was not a direct hit, or completely perpendicular, would glance off with little damaging effect. The bastions were much thicker than standard walls and much flatter too, meaning that any cannon shot hitting them straight on would have its kinetic energy spread out and absorbed by successive layers of masonry. The advent of cannon fire, however, allowed these walls to be hit directly and with a ferocity that would easily demolish the stone and clay.Īs such, this new form of fortification was built out of a series of interlocking and/or separate triangular bastions, which encircled the central town or keep within.
This was because medieval castle and fort walls, which accounted for a large proportion of existing strongholds, had been designed to be relatively thin but high, making it hard for enemies to scale them and difficult for siege engines to fire over. The design was chosen as cannon balls made short work of square-on fortifications largely due to their extensive surface area and lack of absorptive support when a shot made contact. Star forts countered – to a degree-the effects of cannon fire by removing most perpendicular targets for the attacking force. Second, star forts also mitigated a key defensive weakness traditional forts had become increasingly vulnerable to – ‘sapping’, or mining under the walls, by foes out of the firing line. First, they aimed to counteract the game-changing effects of gunpowder during sieges, with traditional square and ring-shaped forts now easily breached by cannon fire.
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