Hill town

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The ruins of Machu Picchu built at the height of Incan civilization but abandoned just 100 years later

Hill town is the term used to describe citadel towns built upon hills to ward off invaders. Often protected by defensive walls, steep embankments, or cliffs, such hilltop settlements provided natural defenses for their inhabitants.

In Europe, especially in Italy, Spain, Portugal and southern France, such towns were common.

Castel del Monte (AQ), a little known Italian hill town

The Spanish even brought the traditional European hill town to the Americas, a notable example being the 16th century Mexican hill town of Guanajuato. However, fortified hill towns were by no means solely a European creation. For instance, Incan fortified hill towns predated the arrival of the Spanish by many centuries and rival those of Europe. Machu Picchu, an Incan hill town completed in the mid-15th century in Peru, although now a ruins, is considered perhaps the most beautiful hill town ever constructed. Construction of fortified hill towns was common in in many civilizations. Ancient examples can also be found in Africa and Asia.