Abent orindirect entrance is a defensive feature inmedievalfortification.[1] In acastle with a bent entrance, the gate passage is narrow and turns sharply. Its purpose is to slow down attackers attempting to rush the gate and impede the use ofbattering rams against doors. It is often combined with means for an active defence, such asmachicolations, in effect confining intruders to a narrowkilling zone. Its defensive function is related to that of abarbican in front of the gate.
Indirect entrances are typical of Arab and Armenian fortifications, as well ascrusader castles. TheCitadel of Aleppo is a good example of the former, with a massivegate tower enclosing a complicated passage. The most elaborate bent entrance among crusader castles is the turning entrance ramp atCrac des Chevaliers, which is defensible from severaltowers and viamachicolations, but the indirect entrance to theHospitaller castle atBayt Jibrin is also complex. In addition to the main gate,postern gates could also feature a bent entrance, usually on a smaller scale. For instance, in the ruined Hospitaller castle atBelvoir, posterns open into the moat at the angle between the outer wall and the corner towers.
Bent entrances of such complexity as at Crac are less common in European castles, where even in strongly defendedkeep-gatehouses the entrance passage tends to be straight. See for example the long gate passage atHarlech Castle, which uses multiple doors andmurder-holes, but no turns. Cathcart King has argued that the indirect entrance was less widespread in Europe than in the Crusader states because transport in Europe tended to be based on carts pulled by draft animals, which makes negotiating a twisting passage impractical, whereas camels, as used in the East, would have less difficulty.
