Fortresses

This impressive coastal fortress was destroyed before it was finished.

The history of the oldest fort in Baltistan is steeped in familial rivalry and gruesome deaths.

This 3,000-year-old “opium black fortress” towers over the ancient town named after it.

This underground art installation recreates an ancient date honey storeroom.

One of the most important fortresses along the Danube now lies in ruins.

This former Portuguese defensive fort atop a hill was occupied for thousands of years.

The medieval fortress of Prince Lazar of Serbia is now an archaeological park.

This medieval fortress guards a monastery near the border of Serbia and Montenegro.

One of the most studied Iron Age settlements in Europe.

Northern Europe’s largest castle ruins sit precariously on an island cliffside.

The gnarled remains of an exploded German bunker from World War II sit along a breathtaking fjord.

One of the very few mosques built by the Ottomans still standing in Croatia is now a Catholic church.

Used as a military post in three different engagements, this fort has remained incomplete and unfired upon for nearly 200 years.

The famous sculptor had a hand in this imposing fortress.

This medieval fortress is (or was till 2017) the home stadium of the football club FC Duruji Kvareli.

The remains of a 13th-century Romanesque church lie abandoned on a hillside.

The legendary fortress of a female Kurdish warrior leader.

A military fort has guarded the surrounding area from this key position since the 13th century.