A cavalier is a fortification which is built within a larger fortification, and which is higher than the rest of the work. It usually consists of a raised platform within a fort or bastion, so as to be able to fire over the main parapet without interfering with the fire of the latter. Through the use of cavaliers, a greater volume of fire can be obtained, but its greater height also makes it an easier target for a besieger's guns.
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Cavalier (fortification) in the context of Bastion fort
A bastion fort or trace italienne (a phrase derived from non-standard French, meaning 'Italian outline') is a fortification in a style developed during the early modern period in response to the ascendancy of gunpowder weapons such as cannon, which rendered earlier medieval approaches to fortification obsolete. It appeared in the mid-fifteenth century in Italy. Some types, especially when combined with ravelins and other outworks, resembled the related star fort of the same era.
The design of the fort is normally a polygon with bastions at the corners of the walls. These outcroppings eliminated protected blind spots, called "dead zones", and allowed fire along the curtain wall from positions protected from direct fire. Many bastion forts also feature cavaliers, which are raised secondary structures based entirely inside the primary structure.
Cavalier (fortification) in the context of Castillo San Cristóbal (San Juan)
Castillo San Cristóbal (English: Saint Christopher Castle) is a fortress in the Old San Juan historic quarter of San Juan, the capital municipality of Puerto Rico, known for being the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the New World. Dating back to defense expansions following attacks by the English in 1598 and Dutch in 1625, it was first constructed in 1634 as the Caballero de San Miguel (Saint Michael Cavalier) and the Garita del Diablo ("devil’s sentry box"). Over the next 150 years, especially in the reign of King Charles III of Spain, it continued to be developed into a bastion fort with outer ravelins and batteries to reach its largest size in 1783. Rising 150 ft from the Atlantic shoreline, the three-level edifice stands on a hill at the northern coastline of San Juan Islet, guarding the land entry to Old San Juan. Alongside El Morro, La Fortaleza, and other forts part of the Walls of Old San Juan, it protected strategically and militarily important Puerto Rico, or La Llave de las Indias (The Key to the Indies), from invasion by competing world powers during the Age of Sail. It was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1983.