Martinengo Bastion

An Introduction

Martinengo Bastion is an important example of state of the art renaissance military architecture and is one of the few remaining intact bastions in the far Eastern Mediterranean. It represents an important moment in the history of defensive technology between the medieval and renaissance periods. 

Medieval defenses consisted of tall thin walls and towers which could not withstand powerful new cannons, therefore renaissance defensives were low and massive and intended to avoid, deflect or absorb cannonballs. 

Famagusta is one of the few places where it is possible to view the transition between medieval and renaissance in the same defensive network. Martinengo Bastion was also an influential example for other bastions throughout in the Mediterranean and even for the Spanish Empire in America. 

Giovanni Girolamo Sanmicheli, nephew of the famous fortification architect, Michele Sanmicheli of Verona, Italy arrived in Cyprus in 1550 to oversee the improvement of Famagusta´s fortifications. After approximately 9 years of design and construction a state of the art bastion at the northwest corner was completed. It was named after Hiernino Martinengo, a popular Venetian commander, who was sent to Famagusta to reinforce the city but perished before arriving. 

Martinengo Bastion was designed and built following the latest advancements in fortification technology.

Its low profile was built slightly higher than the opposite side of the surrounding moat to present a small target to cannon fire while its arrow shape was designed to deflect a direct impact by cannon balls. The massive bastion provided a defensive bulk to absorb impacts and provide protection for defenders and gunpowder inside and two orecchie or ears that contained two cannon each, could protect the approaches to the walls on either side.

The higher cavaliers, located behind and to each side of the entry of Martinengo were designed to elevate cannon to fire over the bastion while the ramps into the interior and roof were designed for horses and wagons to quickly move defenders, supplies and munitions. 

Although Martinengo Bastion was the most technologically advanced of its time, Famagusta eventually fell to the Ottoman Empire after an intense 11 month siege in 1571. 

One reason for the bastion ́s relatively good state of preservation was that it was so well designed and built that it was not a direct target. There were other weaker portions of the walls, most notably the Ravelin/Land Gate and Arsenal Bastion as well as the interior of the city. The besiegers simply red over the massive Martinengo Bastion explaining the destruction to structures within the walls.