ABSTRACT
Both curtain walls and their successor bastion edges were important elements in early urban life and in later city development across much of Europe. In some cases, as in Constantinople (Iater Istanbul), single curtain walls were elaborated into double and even triple curtain walls, often containing large open spaces between the walls (see Figure 3.7). Townspeople came to live in these open spaces, which often accounted for a significant proportion of a city’s total land area. These inhabitants, in addition to the guards and military personnel who manned the walls, suggest that walls were more than simple inert, mechanical barriers, but were also organic in nature. Together, the walls and people associated with them provided access control and surveillance functions facilitated by a
package of defensive design elements previously discussed, such as gates, drawbridges, portcullis, arrow loops, guard towers, and embrasures.
