05/03/2024 By Kane Khanh
Star forts, or bastion forts, trace italienne, are fortifications in the style that evolved during the age of gunpowder when cannon came to dominate the battlefield. Star forts first appeared in Italy at the end of the 15th century. The design of the star fort did away with “dead zones,” or areas in which an attacker cannot be brought under fire, by the use of triangular bastions which command all approaches. The star fort concept was adopted by nearly every European nation and in the New World from the 16th through 19th centuries.