User Reviews
Cannae (now Canne della Battaglia) is an ancient village of the Apulia region of south east Italy. It is situated near the river Aufidus (the modern Ofanto), on a hill on the south bank.
The site is primarily known for the Battle of Cannae, in which the numerically superior Roman army suffered a disastrous defeat by Hannibal in 216 BC during Punic Wars. There is a considerable controversy as to whether the battle took place on the right or the left bank of the river.
In later times the place became a municipium, and the remains of an unimportant Roman town still exist upon the hill known as Monte di Canne. In the Middle Ages, probably after the destruction of Canosa di Puglia in the 9th century, it became a bishopric, and again saw military action in the second battle of Cannae, twelve centuries after the more famous one (1018). The town was wrecked in 1083 by Robert Guiscard, who left only the cathedral and bishop's residence, and was ultimately destroyed in 1276.
References:Château de Niort is a medieval castle in the French town of Niort. It consists of two square towers, linked by a 15th-century building and dominates the Sèvre Niortaise valley.
The two donjons are the only remaining part of the castle. The castle was started by Henry II Plantagenet in the 12th century and completed by Richard the Lionheart. It was defended by a rectangular curtain wall and was damaged during the Wars of Religion. In the 18th century, the castle served as a prison.
The present keeps were the central point of a massive fortress. The southern keep is 28m tall, reinforced with turrets. The northern tower is slightly shorter at 23m. Both are flanked with circular turrets at the corners as well as semicircular buttresses. Each of the towers has a spiral staircase serving the upper floors. The Romanesque architecture is of a high quality with the dressed stones closely jointed.