Editing Defensive wall (section)

== Composition ==
[[File:Chinese wall model.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|A model of a typical [[Chinese city wall]]]]

At its simplest, a defensive wall consists of a wall enclosure and its gates. For the most part, the top of the walls were accessible, with the outside of the walls having tall [[parapet]]s with [[embrasure]]s or [[merlon]]s. North of the Alps, this passageway at the top of the walls occasionally had a roof.

In addition to this, many different enhancements were made over the course of the centuries:

* [[Ditch (fortification)|City ditch]]: a ditch dug in front of the walls, occasionally filled with water to form a [[moat]].
* [[Gate tower]]: a tower built next to, or on top of the city gates to better defend the city gates.
* [[Wall tower]]: a tower built on top of a segment of the wall, which usually extended outwards slightly, so as to be able to observe the exterior of the walls on either side. In addition to arrow slits, ballistae, catapults and cannons could be mounted on top for extra defence.
* Pre-wall: wall built outside the wall proper, usually of lesser height{{snd}} the space in between was usually further subdivided by additional walls.
* Additional obstacles in front of the walls.

The defensive towers of west and south European fortifications in the Middle Ages were often very regularly and uniformly constructed (cf. [[Ávila, Spain|Ávila]], [[Provins]]), whereas Central European city walls tend to show a variety of different styles. In these cases the gate and wall towers often reach up to considerable heights, and gates equipped with two towers on either side are much rarer. Apart from having a purely military and defensive purpose, towers also played a representative and artistic role in the conception of a fortified complex. The architecture of the city thus competed with that of the castle of the noblemen and city walls were often a manifestation of the pride of a particular city.

Urban areas outside the city walls, so-called [[Vorstadt|Vorstädte]], were often enclosed by their own set of walls and integrated into the defense of the city. These areas were often inhabited by the poorer population and held the "noxious trades". In many cities, a new wall was built once the city had grown outside of the old wall. This can often still be seen in the layout of the city, for example in [[Nördlingen]], and sometimes even a few of the old gate towers are preserved, such as the ''white tower'' in [[Nuremberg]]. Additional constructions prevented the circumvention of the city, through which many important trade routes passed, thus ensuring that tolls were paid when the caravans passed through the city gates, and that the local market was visited by the trade caravans.
Furthermore, additional signaling and observation towers were frequently built outside the city, and were sometimes fortified in a castle-like fashion. The border of the area of influence of the city was often partially or fully defended by elaborate ditches, walls and hedges. The crossing points were usually guarded by gates or gate houses. These defenses were regularly checked by riders, who often also served as the gate keepers. Long stretches of these defenses can still be seen to this day, and even some gates are still intact. To further protect their territory, rich cities also established castles in their area of influence. An example of this practice is the Romanian [[Bran Castle]], which was intended to protect nearby Kronstadt (today's [[Braşov]]).

The city walls were often connected to the fortifications of hill castles via additional walls. Thus the defenses were made up of city and castle fortifications taken together. Several examples of this are preserved, for example in Germany [[Hirschhorn (Neckar)|Hirschhorn]] on the Neckar, [[Königsberg]] and [[Pappenheim]], Franken, [[Burghausen, Altötting|Burghausen]] in [[Oberbayern]] and many more.
A few castles were more directly incorporated into the defensive strategy of the city (e.g. [[Nuremberg]], [[Zons]], [[Carcassonne]]), or the cities were directly outside the castle as a sort of "pre-castle" (Coucy-le-Chateau, [[Conwy]] and others). Larger cities often had multiple stewards{{snd}} for example [[Augsburg]] was divided into a [[Imperial Free City|Reichstadt]] and a clerical city. These different parts were often separated by their own fortifications.

===Dimensions of famous city walls===
{|class="sortable wikitable"  
|-style="background:#CCCC;"
! Wall || Max width (m) || Minimum width (m) || Max Height (m) || Lowest Height (m) || Length (km)
|-
| [[Aurelian Walls]] || 3.5 || || 16 || 8 || 19
|-
| [[Walls of Ávila|Ávila]] || 3 || || 12 || || 2.5
|-
| [[Gates of Baghdad|Baghdad]] || 45 || 12 || 30 || 18 || 7
|-
| [[Beijing city fortifications|Beijing]] (inner) || 20 || 12 || 15 || || 24
|-
| Beijing (outer) || 15 || 4.5 || 7 || 6 || 28
|-
| [[Carcassonne#The fortified city|Carcassonne]] || 3 || || 8 || 6 || 3
|-
| [[Chang'an#City walls|Chang'an]] || 16 || 12 || 12 || || 26
|-
| [[Walls of Dubrovnik|Dubrovnik]] || 6 || 1.5 || 25 || || 1.9
|-
| [[Forbidden City#Walls and gates|Forbidden City]] || 8.6 || 6.6 || 8 || || 
|-
| [[Harar]] || || || 5 || || 3.5
|-
| [[Itchan Kala]] || 6 || 5 || 10 || || 2
|-
| [[Walls of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]] || 2.5 || || 12 || || 4
|-
| [[Khanbaliq]] || || || 10.6 || ||
|-
| [[Ancient Linzi|Linzi]] || 42 || 26 || || ||
|-
| [[Luoyang]] || 25 || || 11 || || 12 
|-
| [[Walls of Marrakesh|Marrakech]] || 2 || || 9 || || 20
|-
| [[City Wall of Nanjing|Nanjing]] ||19.75 || 7 ||26 || || 25.1
|-
| [[Nicaea#Ruins|Nicaea]] || 3.7 || || 9 || || 5 
|-
| [[Pingyao#Architecture|Pingyao]] || 12 || 3 || 10 || 8 || 6 
|-
| [[Fortress Wall of Seoul|Seoul (Hanyang doseong)]] ||  ||  ||  ||  || 
|-
| [[Servian Wall]] || 4 || 3.6 || 10 || 6 || 11 
|-
| [[Hwaseong Fortress|Suwon (Hwaseong)]] || || || 5 || || 3.5
|-
| [[City Wall of Suzhou|Suzhou]] || 11 || 5 || 7 || ||
|-
| [[Theodosian Walls]] (inner) || 5.25 || || 12 || || 6 
|-
| Theodosian Walls (outer) || 2 || || 9 || 8.5 || 6 
|-
| [[Vatican wall|Vatican]] || 2.5 || || 8 || || 3  
|-
| [[Fortifications of Xi'an|Xi'an]] || 18 || 12 || 12 || || 14 
|-
| [[Xiangyang]] || || || 10.8 || || 7.3
|-
| [[Zhongdu]] || || || 12 || || 24  
|}