From above, Palmanova looks less like a town and more like a carefully drawn star set into the plains of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. Founded by the Republic of Venice in 1593, this fortress city was designed for defence, order and spectacle. Its streets radiate from a central square, while its walls are shaped into a precise nine-pointed pattern. That geometry was no accident. Palmanova became one of the most influential models of early modern military architecture. It was protected by concentric fortifications built first under Venice and later strengthened and expanded during the Napoleonic period.
Aerial view of Palmanova, a fortress city in Friuli, Italy
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
-
Tigers in Uttarakhand, India
-
Castelmezzano, Basilicata, Italy
-
Persepolis, Iran
-
Spot-billed toucanet, Brazil
-
RMS Queen Mary, California
-
Black grouse males, Estonia
-
Lions mane jellyfish swimming in the ocean
-
Iguazu Falls at the border of Argentina and Brazil
-
Great white egret, Upper Bavaria, Germany
-
Hawaiian lei flower garlands
-
African elephants, Tanzania
-
Colourful beehives, Italy
-
Bardenas Reales Biosphere Reserve and Natural Park, Navarra, Spain
-
The River Thames, London, England
-
Limpets at low tide on the coast of Praia da Ursa, Portugal
-
Nyhavn Canal, Copenhagen, Denmark
-
European hedgehog, France
-
Torra di a Parata, Corsica, France
-
Dunquin Pier, County Kerry, Ireland
-
Bukhansan National Park, South Korea
-
Red mangrove in the Pig Keys, Honduras
-
Seljalandsfoss waterfall, Iceland
-
Corfu, Greece
-
Mount Everest summit, Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal
-
Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia, USA
-
Turret Arch the in Arches National Park, Utah, United States
-
Sørvágsvatn lake, island of Vágar, Faroe Islands
-
Amber Fort, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
-
Floating fruit market, Kaptai Lake, Rangamati, Bangladesh
-
Playa del Silencio, Spain
Bing Wallpaper Gallery

