Watchtower of the camp of the French artillery detachment of the IFOR, Sarajevo, 1995

Tower of Hercules

Roman WatchTower in Germany

A watchtower is a type of fortification used in many parts of the world. Fortifications are Military Constructions and Buildings designed for defense in Warfare Humans have constructed defensive works for It differs from a regular tower in that its primary use is military, and from a turret in that it is usually a freestanding structure. Towers are tall human-made Structures that are always taller than they are wide usually by a significant Margin. In Architecture, a turret (from Italian: torretta, little tower Latin: turris, tower is a small Tower that Its main purpose is to provide a high, safe place from which a sentinel or guard may observe the surrounding area. In some cases, non-military towers, such as religious pagodas, may also be used as watchtowers. A pagoda is the general term in the English language for a tiered Tower with multiple Eaves common in China, Japan, Korea An example of nonmiltary watchtower in history is the one of Jerusalem. Though the Hebrews used it to keep a watch for approaching armies, the religious authorities forbade the taking of weapons up into the tower as this would require bringing weapons through the temple. Hebrews (or Hebertes, Eberites, Hebreians, " Habiru " or " Habiri " Hebrew: עברים Rebuilt by King Herod, that watchtower was renamed after Mark Antony, his friend who battled against Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (later Augustus) and lost. Marcus Antonius (in Latin: M·ANTONIVS·M·F·M·N ( c January 14 83 BC&ndash August 1, 30 BC known in English as Mark Augustus ( Latin: IMPERATOR·CAESAR·DIVI·FILIVS·AVGVSTVS September 23 63 BC – August 19 AD 14) born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, was

Early history of the watchtower

The Romans built numerous towers as part of a system of communications, one example being the towers along Hadrian's Wall in Britain. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Hadrian's Wall ( Latin: perhaps Vallum Aelium, "the Aelian wall" is a stone and turf Fortification built by the Roman See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands Each tower was in sight of the next in the line, and a simple system of semaphore signalling was used between them. They also built many lighthouses, such as the Tower of Hercules in northern Spain, which survives to this day as a working building, and the equally famous lighthouse at Dover Castle, which survives to about half its original height as a ruin. A lighthouse is a Tower, building or framework designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or in older times from a fire and used as an The Tower of Hercules is an ancient Roman Lighthouse located on a peninsula about 2 Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Dover Castle is situated at Dover, Kent and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history In medieval Europe, many castles and manor houses, or similar fortified buildings, were equipped with watchtowers. A manor house or fortified manor-house is a Country house, which has historically formed the administrative centre of a manor (see Manorialism In some of the manor houses of western France, the watchtower equipped with arrow or gun loopholes was one of the principal means of defense. A feudal lord could keep watch over his domain from the top of his tower.

Some notable examples of military watchtowers include the towers that Martin de Redin, Grand Master of the Knights of Malta had constructed on the coasts of Malta, and the Martello Towers that the British built in the UK and elsewhere in the British Empire. Fra Martin de Redin ( Pamplona 1579 - Malta 1660 was a Spanish military and politician Grand Master is the typical Title of the supreme head (in some national orders below the Sovereign Head of state of various orders of knighthood including Military orders The Knights Hospitaller (also known as the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St Malta, officially the Republic of Malta (Repubblika ta' Malta is a European Microstate, comprising an Archipelago of three islands Martello towers (or simply Martellos) are small defensive forts built in several countries of the British Empire during the 19th century from the time The British Empire was the largest empire in history and for over a century was the foremost global power. All of these types of towers were armed with cannon. One of the last Martello Towers to be built was Fort Denison in Sydney harbour. Fort Denison is a former penal site and defensive facility occupying a small island located north of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales Sydney (ˈsɪdniː is the most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 4 The most recent descendants of the Martello Towers are the flak towers that the various combattants erected in World War II as mounts for anti-aircraft artillery. Flak towers ( German: Flaktürme) were large anti-aircraft gun blockhouses used by the Luftwaffe to prevent overflights of key areas in certain World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Anti-aircraft warfare, or air defense, is any method of engaging hostile military Aircraft in defence of ground objectives, ground or naval forces

In modern warfare the relevance of watchtowers has decreased due to the availability of alternative forms of military intelligence, such as reconnaissance by spy satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles. Modern warfare, although present in every Historical period of Military history, is generally used to refer to the concepts, methods and Military intelligence (abbreviated MI int Commonwealth, or intel Reconnaissance (also scouting) is a military and medical term denoting exploration conducted to gain information A spy satellite (officially referred to as a reconnaissance satellite) is an Earth observation satellite or Communications satellite deployed for An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV is an unpiloted Aircraft. UAVs can be remote controlled or fly autonomously based on pre-programmed flight plans or more complex dynamic

Maltese WatchTower

Modern day uses of the watchtower

An example of a modern, non-military use of watchtowers is the United States Forest Service fire towers in national forests. A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a " Fire lookout " whose duty it "National forest" redirects here for the National Forest in England see National Forest England; for those in Brazil see List of Brazilian National Forests During the fire season, the USFS staffs the towers with observers who keep a lookout for wildfires.

Prison complexes in many countries also feature watchtowers to keep an eye on the prison population, particularly when they are outside in the prison yard. A prison, penitentiary, or correctional facility is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned and usually deprived of a range of

See also

• Observation towers are similar constructions being usually outside of fortifications. An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision A similar use have also Control towers on airports or harbours. A control tower, or more specifically an air traffic control tower is the name of the airport building from which the Air traffic control unit controls the movement of aircraft