The Italian term bastione came to Castilian as a bastion. The concept makes mention of a bastion: a fortification that arises when two wall curtains meet. The bastions are usually composed of two flanks that allow their connection with the wall, two faces that generate a projecting angle and an entrance gorge.
Its development took place during the last half of the 15th century and it was included in the so-called Italian plan, a type of fortification that was created at that time to face the army of France in their attempt to invade its territory. Since the French had modern cannons that could destroy medieval fortifications with great ease, an architectural innovation was necessary to reduce their chances of victory.
The bastion reached all parts of the European continent at the beginning of the 16th century precisely to leave behind the ineffectiveness of the old fortifications against cannon attacks, given the thinness of its high walls.
Let’s see below some of the most popular bastion types:
* a pincer: it is also known simply as a gripped bastion, and it is the one that presents an inlet formed by its flanked angle;
* cut: this type of bastion has one or two leading angles instead of the flanked one;
* of dried apricots: the dried apricot, the name given to one of its faces, covers its convex angles and withdraws towards the center with its extremity;
* featured: this is a fortress built in the style of a bastion;
* double: its construction takes place in combination with that of more bastions, for which it is necessary to have enough space;
* irregular: characterized by not being symmetrical;
* full: it has an embankment inside;
* medium: it has a flank and a face;
* pastel: this type of bastion is also known as flat, and its main feature is its half ruffles, which form a straight line;
* real: its construction takes place at the extremities of large estates, those that measure between 150 and 200 meters. Very large troops can be housed inside it and its solidity gives it great resistance to the most violent attacks;
* regular: presents an equivalence between its angles and their corresponding lines;
* blunt: it was built at an incoming angle;
* simple: its embankment has in the middle a space destined to the construction of buildings such as powder magazines;
* empty: it is the bastion that has not been completely filled.
It can be said that the bastion is a fortified enclosure whose projection is carried out out of the central sector of the fortress in question. The usual thing is that they are installed in the corners, a location that allows to improve the conditions of the defense.
In general, the bastions have a pentagonal shape (the two faces, the two flanks and the gorge), a design that makes it possible to cover the walls and the other bastions through the crossfire.
In ancient times, bastions meant that when a troop tried to storm a fortress, it had to place its artillery batteries at a great distance. That’s why the attacks were difficult.
The idea of bastion can also be used in a symbolic sense to name the most important precept of a theory or a doctrine. Bastion, in this framework, is that on which a system is built or a certain scaffolding is built: “The abolition of private property is the bastion of communism”, “Our political movement has honesty as its main bastion”, ” The Uruguayan midfielder is the bastion of the local team ”.
Bastion, finally, is the name of a villain created by Marvel Comics who takes on the X-Men. This character first appeared in a 1996 publication.
