Monday, January 28, 2013

It's a bloomin' glacis!

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The grass in the moat and the vegetation on the glacis is bright green and thriving with the abundant winter rains we are having.
A glacis is a bank sloping down from a fort which exposes attackers to the defenders' missiles, the dictionary says.
The nice Hebrew word for glacis  is a "chalaklakah," meaning literally, very slippery.
This one is part of the 12th century Crusader fortification system of the Citadel (of Tower of David).
It was later repaired by the Ottomans. 

The dry moat was "probably built during the Crusader period (twelfth century) and originally reached the entrance and was partly spanned by a wooden drawbridge," according to the sign.

That is easier to understand if you look at an earlier post with pictures of the present-day bridge.
Or at this post with night photos of the beautifully floodlit bridge.

Oh, and a nice little bonus is the group of nuns in black walking past the Citadel.  (Just click on the photo once and then once again.)
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(Linking to Our World Tuesday.)

8 comments:

  1. Great tour!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  2. I wonder what those nuns are chatting about. The vegetation around the citadel perhaps?

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  3. What fun! I see the nuns! You've taught me something new. I had no idea what a glacis was.

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  4. What interesting piece of history being alive in your environment. Please have a good Tuesday.

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  5. You live in such a wonderful place to explore antiquities!!!

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  6. a nun invasion? hehe
    grass growing on these old walls are beautiful.

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  7. I'm glad the rains of so plentiful!

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  8. My eyes will see most on the green grass i the picture, that I look forward to:-)

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