Secular structure, Military / Fortifications

Agra Fort
The Fort has massive red walls, with an outline of 2.5 kilometers. It dates from the 16th century. Within the walls, palaces, mosques and reception rooms can be found.
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Bahla Fort
Bahla Fort is one of four historic fortresses situated at the foot of the Djebel Akhdar highlands in Oman.
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Belfries
Belfries are medieval bell-towers. They are mostly found in town centers, and connected to the local town hall or church.
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Bellinzone
The city of Bellinzone is famous for its three castles: Castelgrande, Montebello and Sasso Corbaro. It was recognized by Unesco as "an outstanding example of a late medieval defensive structure guarding a key strategic Alpine pass".
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Brimstone Hill Fortress
Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park is one of the best preserved historical fortifications in the Americas, designed by the British and built by slaves.
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Castel del Monte
Castel del Monte is a unique masterpiece of medieval military architecture. Its form is perfect, its design a harmonious blend of cultural elements from Classical antiquity, Muslim architecture and the Cistercian Gothic of northern Europe.
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Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork
Malbork (or Marienburg in German) was built from the late 13th century by the Teutonic Knights, who controlled at that time the Baltic coast.
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Crac des Chevaliers
The Crac des Chevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din are the most significant remaining examples of fortresses dating from the Crusader period.
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Dacian Fortresses
The Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains were the heart of the Dacian Kingdom. They were built in the 1st centuries B.
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Defense Line of Amsterdam
This defense line was built between 1883 and 1920 to guard the capital Amsterdam. It is the only example of a fortification based on the control of water.
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Derbent
Derbent has since antiquity been the gate to the Caucasus and has archaeological structures over 5,000 years old.
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Durham Castle and Cathedral
The Castle and Cathedral overlook a bend in the Wear river, crossecting the old university town of Durham.
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Fort and Shalamar Gardens
The Shalimar Gardens were built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in Lahore, modern day Pakistan. Construction began in 1641 A.
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Fortress of Suomenlinna
The old name for Suomenlinna (which means Finnish castle) is Sveaborg (Swedish castle). It was built in a time that Finland was part of Sweden, hence the original name.
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Frontiers of the Roman Empire
The Wall was built under the orders of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in AD 122. It took soldiers six years to build a wall 80 Roman miles long (117km) on the border of what is now England and Scotland.
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Great Wall
The Great Wall, spanning 17 Chinese provinces, is one of humankind's most remarkable efforts. Therefore it matches even 5 out of 6 criteria to be met for inclusion in the World Heritage List: a masterpiece of construction and a testimony to the civilizations of ancient China, with a huge symbolic significance.
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Gwynedd
The castles of Beaumaris and Harlech and the fortified complexes of Caernarfon and Conwy are located in the former principality of Gwynedd, in north Wales.
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Himeji-jo
The castle is also known as Shirasagi, the white heron, because of its gracefulness. It was added by the Unesco because of its wooden castle structure of incomparable worth in the world, which as a whole is also very well preserved.
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Hwaseong Fortress
Suwon Hwaseong was established in September 1796. The Emperor Chongjo moved his seat of government to Mount Paldal in Suwon, and he encircled it with strong defensive works laid out according to the precepts of an influential military architect of the period, who brought together the latest developments in the field from both east and west.
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Kaiping Diaolou
The diaolou of Kaiping are fortified multi-storey towers, built by returning Chinese immigrants from America, Canada, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
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Kazan Kremlin
The Kazan Kremlin is the chief historic citadel of Tatarstan, situated in the city of Kazan, which was built on behest of Ivan the Terrible on the ruins of the former castle of Kazan khans.
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Kernavė Archeological Site
Kernavė Archeological Site represents an exceptional testimony to some 10 millennia of human settlements in this region.
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Kronborg Castle
Kronborg is a Renaissance castle, built in 1574-1585 by Danish King Frederik II. It has played a significant role in the history of this part of northern Europe, because of its strategic position between the North Sea and the Baltic.
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La Fortaleza and San Juan
San Juan played a strategic role at the beginning of the Spanish colonization. This long military history can be found in the defensive system.
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Masada
Masada is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel on top of an isolated rock plateau, or large mesa, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea.
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Mazagan
Mazagan (now known as El Jadida) is a port city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco which was seized in 1502 and subsequently ruled by the Portuguese until 1769.
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National History Park
Haiti“s National History Park consists of the Palace of Sans Souci, the Citadelle Laferričre, and the buildings of Ramiers.
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Portobelo-San Lorenzo
The Panamanian forts of Portobelo and San Lorenzo on the Caribbean coast form part of the defence system built by the Spanish Crown to protect transatlantic trade.
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Qal'at al-Bahrain
The fort, located on the north coast, was built in the 14th century, but excavations in the area reveal it to be the site of settlements dating back to the Dilmun era, or around 3000 BC.
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Quseir Amra
Quseir Amra is a desert castle built in the early 8th century by the Umayyad caliph Walid I. It is one of the most important examples of early Islamic art and architecture.
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Red Fort
The Red Fort was the palace for Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's new capital, Shahjahanabad, the seventh Muslim city in the Delhi site.
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Rohtas Fort
Rohtas Fort, also called Qila Rohtas, was built in 1541 and survives intact til today. The Fort was put on the List because it is an exceptional example of Muslim military architecture in Central and South Asia, blending architectural and artistic traditions from Turkey and the Indian sub-continent to create the model for Mughal architecture.
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San Pedro de la Roca Castle
The Castillo de San Pedro de la Roca is a fortress on the coast of the Cuban city of Santiago de Cuba.
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Spissky Hrad
Spissky Hrad (Spis Castle) dates from the early 13th century. It stands on a 634 meter high hill in western Slovakia.
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The Mir Castle Complex
The Mirsky Castle Complex is located near Mir in the Karelichy District of the Hrodna voblast. The construction of the castle began at the end of the 15th century, in the Gothic architecture style.
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Tower of London
The Tower's history starts with William (The Conqueror) of Normandy. After taking the English crown in 1066, he established this huge fortress as his stronghold near the Thames river.
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Volta, Greater Accra
Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions is the collective designation of Western-style fortifications and outposts (mostly Portuguese, Dutch and British) along the Gold Coast (modern-day Ghana) during the colonial period.
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Wartburg Castle
Wartburg Castle has been put on the WH List because it is seen as a "outstanding monument of the feudal period in central Europe".
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