Swiss castles, forts, defensive towers and palaces  

definitions

The castle is a self-contained fortification or an early historical fortification, in the narrower sense a medieval residential and fortification (keep), which originally consisted of square towers, among other things. From the 13th century, however, they were built around. This made them more difficult to conquer from the outside because stones and arrows bounced off the curve. The lord of the castle lived with his family and the crew in the palas (living room and ballroom), there was also a servant’s house, stables, a well and often a castle chapel.

The weir tower is a historic weir system, which was built into extensive fortifications or isolated, primarily for defence.It served to protect settlements, castles and strategically important points.

The moth or tower hill castle is a predominantly wooden, medieval castle type, the main feature of which is an artificially created mound with a mostly tower-shaped main building.

The fort is a Roman military camp that was built in a strategically important place and had simple barracks for the legionaries, baths, latrines, granaries and stables for the horses. In addition there were aqueducts with which water was brought in. However, since a fort did not provide adequate protection, the legionnaires had to build walls, trenches and fortifications made of stone or wood.

The castle, a building or complex, was built on behalf of the sovereign or other members of the nobility. This designation is independent of the size or artistic design of its facade. Stately palaces often came from medieval castles or earlier monasteries. The construction was less massive, e.g. thinner walls, large windows, lots of flourishes and turrets. Around 1700, Italian and French buildings served as a model for new buildings in terms of the spacious gardens.

The palace is a palace-like, prestigious building built in a city. It can also be called a city palace, which contains a residential and representative building.