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Elevated Entrance

Access to the medieval residential tower is gained from its secure rear side, which faces away from the line of attack (the mountainside). Here, one ascends a steep stone staircase to the so-called “elevated entrance.”

In medieval residential towers and keeps, this entrance was typically not at ground level for defence reasons and could therefore be more easily defended.

In times of danger, the arched elevated entrance could be quickly secured with a metal-clad postern door or plank door by withdrawing the locking bar, which was set into the masonry of the door recess, thereby barring the entrance.