It was a bold, dark castle of pine boughs that stood like a medieval fortress, eclipsing the sun and human time.

Potemkin's Army of Ekaterinoslav, totaling, it was claimed, 40,000 regular troops and 6,000 irregulars of the Cossack Corps, had invested Islam's principal stronghold on the north shore of the Black Sea, the fortress town of Oczakov, and was preparing to test the Turk by land and sea.

In 1153 Baldwin captured the Egyptian fortress of Ascalon, which was then added to Amalric's fief of Jaffa ( see Battle of Ascalon ).

In 1168 the chief Wendish fortress at Arkona in Rügen, containing the sanctuary of their god Svantevit, was conquered.

During the 3rd century, under threat from a Herulian invasion, repairs were made to the Acropolis walls, and the " Beulé Gate " was constructed to restrict entrance in front of the Propylaia, thus returning the Acropolis to use as a fortress.

After the fall of the Duchy of Athens and the principality of Achaia, the only Latin possessions left on the mainland of Greece were the papal city of Monemvasia, the fortress of Vonitsa, the Messenian stations Coron and Modon, Navarino, the castles of Argos and Nauplia, to which the island of Aegina was subordinate, Lepanto and Pteleon.

The most powerful of the latter was Umar ibn Hafsun, who, from his impregnable fortress of Bobastro, controlled much of eastern Al-Andalus.

The last of Ibn Hafsun to fall was Hafs, who stood in his powerful fortress of Bobastro.

Gobannium was a Roman fort guarding the road along the valley of the River Usk which linked the legionary fortress of Burrium ( Usk ) and later Isca Augusta or Isca Silurum, ( Caerleon ) in the south with Y Gaer, Brecon and Mid Wales.

The Second Army, under general Nikola Ivanov, with 2 infantry divisions and 1 infantry brigade, was deployed west of the First and was assigned to capture the strong fortress of Adrianopel ( now Edirne ).

The Third Army had 3 infantry divisions and was assigned to cross the Stranja mountain and to take the fortress of Lozengrad ( Kirk Kilisse ).

The fortress of Adrianople was besieged and Kirk Kilisse was taken without resistance under the pressure of the Bulgarian Third Army.

Anadoluhisarı fortress was built between 1393 and 1394 as part of preparations for the Second Ottoman Siege of Constantinople, which took place in 1395.

The strategic position, to wit the high bank of the Waal — which offered an unimpeded view far into Germania Transrhenana ( Germania Beyond the Rhine )— was recognized first by Drusus, who built a massive fortress ( castra ) and a headquarters ( praetorium ) in imperial style.

In the 18th century, a fortress was built at Montjuïc that overlooked the harbour.

In 1794, this fortress was used by the French astronomer Pierre François André Méchain for observations relating to a survey stretching to Dunkirk that provided the official basis of the measurement of a metre.

Jean Froissart states as follows: " Now will I name some of the principal lords and knights ( men-at-arms ) that were there with the prince: the earl of Warwick, the earl of Suffolk, the earl of Salisbury, the earl of Oxford, the lord Raynold Cobham, the lord Spencer, the lord James Audley, the lord Peter his brother, the lord Berkeley, the lord Basset, the lord Warin, the lord Delaware, the lord Manne, the lord Willoughby, the lord Bartholomew de Burghersh, the lord of Felton, the lord Richard of Pembroke, the lord Stephen of Cosington, the lord Bradetane and other Englishmen ; and of Gascon there was the lord of Pommiers, the lord of Languiran, the captal of Buch, the lord John of Caumont, the lord de Lesparre, the lord of Rauzan, the lord of Condon, the lord of Montferrand, the lord of Landiras, the lord Soudic of Latrau and other ( men-at-arms ) that I cannot name ; and of Hainowes the lord Eustace d ' Aubrecicourt, the lord John of Ghistelles, and two other strangers, the lord Daniel Pasele and the lord Denis of Amposta, a fortress in Catalonia ".

Havana was furnished with the fortress of Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro to deter potential invaders, which included the English privateer Francis Drake, who sailed within sight of Havana harbour but did not disembark on the island.

The city was built on seven hills as well as on the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara, and thus presented an impregnable fortress enclosing magnificent palaces, domes and towers.

Around the turn of the 4th century, as Memphis was continuing to decline in importance, the Romans established a fortress town along the east bank of the Nile.

Massachusetts was increasingly concerned over reports of the capabilities of this fortress, and of privateers staging out of its harbour to raid New England fishermen on the Grand Banks.

In 1758, the fortress of Louisbourg was laid siege for a second time within 15 years, this time by more than 27, 000 British soldiers and sailors with over 150 warships.

Because he was the unifying king, Theseus built and occupied a palace on the fortress of the Acropolis that may have been similar to the palace that was excavated in Mycenae.

A fortress was constructed by Pope Paul V on the site of the castle called " Castel Tedaldo ", at the south-west angle of the town, that was occupied by an Austrian garrison from 1832 until 1859.

The center of each division of the town was occupied by a fortress.

The city of Odessa, founded by order of Catherine the Great, Russian Empress, centres on the site of the Turkish fortress Khadzhibei, which was occupied by Russian Army in 1789.

In addition to the Taos museums, the Martinez Hacienda, a fortress occupied by Padre Martinez's family in the 19th century, provides examples of the integration of Spanish and Pueblo artistic movements in retablos ( santos painted on flat pieces of wood ), bultos ( santos carved out of wood and sometimes painted ), as well as tin work, jewelry, and basketry.

The fortress fired at the invaders, causing damage to the pocket battleship Lützow and sinking the heavy cruiser Blücher, with heavy German losses that included many of the armed forces, Gestapo agents, and administrative personnel who were to have occupied the Norwegian capital.

The major attempt made by Inäzor Purgaz from Arzamas in January 1229 was repulsed, but after the death of Yuri II on March 4, 1238 at the Battle of Sit River the Mongols occupied the fortress and the remnants of small Nizhny Novgorod settlement which surrendered without any resistance in order to preserve what had been developed since Purgaz's attack nine years earlier.

In 1239, Henry II finally lost the Santok fortress, which was occupied by Brandenburg after his defeat in the Battle of Lubusz.

As a Roman colony Beneventum seems to have quickly become a flourishing place ; and in the Second Punic War was repeatedly occupied by Roman generals as a post of importance, on account of its proximity to Campania, and its strength as a fortress.

The battle was won by the Saxons, who afterwards occupied the three cities of Cirencester ( Corinium ), probably a provincial capital in the Roman period, Gloucester ( Glevum ), a former legionary fortress and a colonia, and Bath ( Aquae Sulis ), a renowned pagan religious centre and spa-city.

* a meteor or comet, seen in the full light of day when in comparatively recent times, the Ngati Hau tribe were besieging the fortress named Rangiuru at Otaki, occupied by the Ngati Awa.

He first invaded Norway in 1716 with a combined force of 7, 000 men, occupied the capital Christiania, ( modern Oslo ), and laid siege to the Akershus fortress.

After the peace treaty, Russia, Germany, and France forced Japan to withdraw from Liaodong Peninsula, soon afterwards Russia occupied the Liaodong Peninsula, built Port Arthur fortress and based the Russian Pacific Fleet in the port.

Germany occupied Jiaozhou Bay, built Tsingtao fortress and based the German East Asia Squadron in this port.

After the fortress was abandoned, it continued to be occupied as a civilian settlement, with evidence of iron working.

In the course of the following, renewed Swedish incursion into Prussian territory, the small Prussian fleet was destroyed and areas as far south as Neuruppin were occupied, yet the campaign was aborted in late 1759 when the undersupplied Swedish forces succeeded neither in taking the major Prussian fortress of Stettin ( now Szczecin ) nor in combining with their Russian allies.

The Muslim Arabs originally built the castle fortress, and the French, who occupied the city for four years during the War of the Spanish Succession, re-built it in the early 19th century.

The Hashshashin cult that once occupied this fortress is what inspired the first version of the Assamites.

Before 1948, the ruined fortress was occupied by Bedouin of the al-Suwaytat tribe whose primary occupation was animal husbandry.

Grey, armed with the financial support and far more troops armed with 32-pounder cannons, that had been denied to FitzRoy, attacked and occupied Kawiti's fortress at Ruapekapeka, forcing Kawiti to retreat.

After the defeat of Boudica, the legion was dispersed over several bases ; from 66 to around 74 it was stationed at Glevum ( modern Gloucester ), and then moved to Isca Augusta ( modern Caerleon ), building a stone fortress that the soldiers occupied until the end of the 3rd century.

During World War II, the city was occupied by German forces, who placed an arsenal of ammunition in the fortress.

On 30 August he routed the Afghans at Ghazni, and on 6 September occupied the fortress, from which he carried away, by the governor-general's express instructions, the gates of the temple of Somnath ; on the 17th he joined Pollock at Kabul.

Although the armies led by Walter the Penniless passed peacefully through the country in May 1096, the next hordes led by Peter the Hermit occupied the fortress of Zimony withdrawing only when Coloman's armies were approaching them.