Please note that this page contains a gallery of the starforts detailed at Starforts.com, under the name of the country in which they presently reside. There are many more starforts that I'll be adding to this collection as time goes on, but if you know of one that I can add, please alert me either through my Contact Page or on Starforts.com's Facebook page! In the meantime, won't you click on the starfort of your interest below, to read of its history?


The Portuguese did their starfortin' thing in what is now the Angolan capital city of Luanda in the 16th and 17th centuries, a process from which we only have the one example left today, which is...(look down a little and you'll see what it is)...

Fortaleza de São Miguel


Sadly, there are no starforts in Australia. But there are a few lovely coastal fortifications, such as...

Fort Glanville


The Azores were claimed by Portugal around 1430, but Spain took control of Portugal in 1580, and with it their colonial holdings. Portugal regained the Azores in 1642, but not before Spain had built itself a starfort there!

Fortaleza de São João
Baptista do Monte Brasil


Belarus has pretty much spent the last millenium being overrun by various galloping hordes. Russia of course was the major offender in this case, and 'twas Russia that built the starforts one might find there today.

Brest Fortress


Spain, the Netherlands, Prussia and France all squabbled over what is now Belgium. Starforts there today were mostly built to get rid of all those non-Belgian folks.

Forts Liefkenshoek and Lillo

Fort de Huy

Citadel Diest


Spain and Portugal got to Bermuda first, but 'twas Great Britain built its starforts.

The Keep


Brazil's early history was dominated by Portugal and the Netherlands, both of whom liked to build starforts with those guerite dingleberries on the tips of their bastions.

Forte de Sao Mateus

Fort Orange

Forte dos Reis Magos

Fortaleza de
São José de Macapá


Cabo Verde is one of the many remote spots on this earth that were blessed with Portuguese starforts.

Forte Real de São Filipe


France and Great Britain spent a lot of time, effort and blood over Canada in the 17th through 19th centuries. And then of course there was the pesky United States, hungrily eyeing the north. What's left of Canada's starforts today are primarily leftovers from the failed dream that was Acadia, and defenses against American incursion.

Fort Lennox

Fort Erie

Citadelle de Quebec

Prince of
Wales Fort

Fort Chambly

Fort George

Fort Anne

Halifax Citadel

Fort York

Fort Beauséjour

Fort Wellington

Fort Henry

Fort Mississauga

Fort Royal

Lévis Fort No. 1

Fort at Coteau du Lac

Fort William Augustus

Fort Frederick

Fort Edward

Fort Senneville


Spain was the Most Catholic Bringer of Starforts to Chile.

Fuerte de Niebla


One generally doesn't think starforts when one thinks China. Portugal's small presence there in the 16th century brought us the only starfort I can find in China. When China could have used a good starfort or two was during the Opium Wars of the mid-19th century, but they didn't have the time or know-how to build one.

Monte Fort


Italy and Austria were mostly responsible for the starforts of Croatia.

Slavonski Brod Fortress

Pula Fortress

Karlovac Fortress

Starforts were definitely the "in" thing when Spain and Great Britain were squabbling over Cuba. Havana is one of the most heavily-starforted cities on earth.

Castillo de la
Real Fuerza

Castillo de San
Salvador de la Punta

Fortaleza de San Carlos
de la Cabana

Castillo de
San Serevino

The Holy Roman Empire and Austro-Hungarian Empire were the driving forces behind what starforts are now present in the Czech Republic.

Terezin

Fortress Josefov

Špilberk Castle

Vyšehrad

Denmark fought both with and against lots of its neighbors from the 16th through 18th centuries, and was an early starfort adopter...and they're the only country that I've found that grants all of their starforts one-word names!

Kastellet

Kronborg

Skansin

Egypt was of course a thing long before any of the starfort-obsessed nations got their act together, and its glory days had long faded by the time starforts came into vogue. Happily, France and Great Britain were all too happy to spread their starfortin' expertise around.

Fort Julien

Estonia spent most of the starfort age being tossed around betwixt Sweden, Denmark and Russia.

Kuressaare Castle

The Swedes were the bigshot power in Scandanavia in the 17th and 18th centuries, and it was they who did most of the starfort work in Finland.

Hame Castle

Svartholm Fortress

France has been a distinct nation for over a thousand years, and was one of the leading authorities on starfortery since its inception at the end of the Middle Ages. Vauban, a famed military engineer and advisor of King Louis XIV, is known as the Father of the Starfort.

Citadel of
Saint-Martin

Fort
de la Pree

Fort
Bellegarde

Fortifications
of Paris

Fort du
Mont-Valerien

Fort Lagarde

Fort Carre

Chateau d'if

Citadelle
de Lille

Fortifications of Besancon

Fort Vallières

Citadelle Vauban

Fort Delgrès

Fort Desaix

Le Citadelle de Perpignan

Rocroi

Fort Saint Elmo

Citadelle d'Ajaccio

Fort Lupin

Fort des Têtes

Citadelle Bayonne

Fort et des Îles

Citadelle de Bitche

Fort Médoc

Fort Nieulay

Forteresse Île du Large

Fort Lamalgue

Fort Mont Louis

Fort Diamant

Germany's starforts have been more difficult for me to find that those in most other nations. Since its unification didn't come about until 1871, the things that all those little pre-unified states built starforts to defend are a little harder to initially surmise than the heavily-starforted port facilities so enjoyed by most other European nations. Still, as you can see, Germany built plenty of starforts, and I have found some of them.

Fortress
Doemitz

Zitadelle
Spandau

Zitadelle
Petersberg

Fort Gorgast

Schloss Rheydt

Festung Ehrenbreitstein

Zitadelle
Jülich

Festung Marienberg

Festung
Rothenberg

Zitadelle Vechta

Fort Kugelbake

Festung Wülzburg

Festung Rosenberg

England, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Portugal and who knows who else all built starforts in Ghana.

Cape Coast Castle

Greece's glory days were long gone by the time the starfort revolution began. What few can be found there now were built by the Ottoman Turks.

Kastro Riou

Haiti chased out the French, Spanish and British and then immediately enjoyed a burst of starfort-building!

Fort Jacques

Fort Ogé

The starforts of Honduras come to us thanks to the Spanish Empire.

Fortaleza de San Fernando

The Ottomans and Austrians had a lot to do with how Hungary developed as a nation, but many of its starforts were home-grown affairs.

Nádasdy-vár

India is a nation whose history is inextricably entwined with Great Britain's. Their starforts were either built by the British or built to fight the British...or by Portugal before the British even knew there was an India!

Fort St. George

Manjarabad Fort

Diu Fort

Bihu Loukon

Aguada Fort

Indonesia was liberally sprinkled with starforts built first by the Portuguese, the Dutch and then the English, mostly due to spices!

Fort Belgica

Fort Nassau

Persia, or modern-day Iran, is one of many out-of-the-way places that benefited from the generously starfort-providing benevolence of the Portuguese.

Fort of Our Lady
of the Conception

The starfort was invented in Italy: When kings of other lands wanted a starfort, they asked for a Trace Italienne. Though not unified as a nation until the 1860's, the invasion in 1494 by France's King Charles VIII jump-started Italy's fortification technology.

Rocco
Aldobrandesca

Palmanova

Forte Filippo

Castel Sant'Angelo

Forte Marghera

Citadel of
Alessandria

Fortezza di Sarzana

Castel Sant'Elmo

Fortezza Santa Barbara

Forte Sangallo

Castillo San Giacomo

Forte di Belvedere

Fortezza di Poggio Imperiale

Vatican City

The Fortifications of Rome

Japan built two starforts right when the rest of the world was deciding that starforts were no longer the fashionable thing. But at the time, western military things were the fashionable thing in Japan! Japan eventually caught up and surpassed the west in some regards, but anyway, here are their two starforts.

Fort Goryokaku

Tatsuoka Castle

At the risk of insulting some of my more sensitive Russian friends, I will say that the starforts of Kazakhstan came into being due to Russian military activity. Is that all right? Can I say that? Because it certainly seems to be the case.

Novo-Alexandrovskiy Fort

Those Portuguese. They just built starforts everywhere.

Fort Jesus

We can thank Sweden for its 17th century bullying, for without it, Latvia might have no starforts whatsoever. Well. Russia helped, too.

Daugavgriva

Daugavpils Fortress

Lithuania's fortifications come to us courtesy of Teutonic Knights, Prussia and Germany. In that order.

Spit Fort

Luxembourg is small. Very small. But it was big enough to support what was probably the most extensively-fortified city in history: Fortress Luxembourg, of which the cute lil' fort below was a part.

Fort Thüngen

Portugal got to Malaysia first, but Great Britain is responsible for its starfort.

Fort Cornwallis

Malta, meet the Knights Hospitaliers. Now stand aside while they build starforts all over you.

Fort Manoel

Fort St. Elmo

Fort Ricasoli

Every starfort that Spain built in Mexico has been described as "Spain's most important fort in the new world." Which is 100% accurate, as every starfort is the most important starfort.

Fuerte de
San Diego

San Carlos
Fortress

Fortaleza de
San Juan de Ulúa

Fuerte de
Guadalupe

Fuerte de
Loreto

Fuerte de San
Felipe de Bacalar

Portugal and Spain built forts, star- and otherwise, in Morocco...But there were home-grown starfort entries as well!

Fort Al Kabibat

Fortress of Mazagan

Borj Nord

The Netherlands' starforts are early examples, mostly of the fortified city variety as opposed to the stand-alone fort concept.

Naarden

Fortress Bourtange

Hulst

Woerden

Willemstad

Fort Henricus

Fort de Roovere

Fort Sint Pieter

Fort Rammekens

New Zealand's forts mostly took the form of the Maori's homegrown fortification concept, the pā, but fortunately white guys made some out of masonry as well.

Fort Jervois

Close proximity to such heavyweights as Russia, Sweden and the Netherlands, plus being visited from time to time by the British Navy, caused a need for starforts in Norway. The world's northernmost starfort is located at Vardo, Norway.

Vardøhus Fortress

Fredriksberg Fortress

Kristiansten Fort

Fredrikstad Fortress

Kongsvinger Fortress

The British were the starfort-building culpruits in Pakistan, back when Pakistan was India, which was back when India was really Britain.

Handyside Fort

Spanish Conquistador activity brought about Peru's single entry into the galaxy of starforts.

Fuerte del Real Felipe

Spain, Spain, Spain. Spain colonized many places, and built many starforts. One of those places was the Philippines, and some of those starforts are below!

Fuerte de San Pedro

Fort Pilar

Prussia is responsible for much of Poland's starfortery, but Poland was a military power in its own right for hundreds of years, so they built starforts of their own as well.

Fortress of
Wisloujscie

Fortress Boyen

Fortifications
of Kostrzyn

Twierdza Srebrnogórska

Portugal was one of the world's leading exporters of starforts, sprinkling them liberally throughout the planet, from South America to Africa to China.

Fort of Almeida

Elvas

Forte de Sao
Juliao da Barro

Estremoz Castle

Fortaleza de Peniche

Forte de São
João da Barra

Forte de Nossa
Senhora da Graça

Praça-forte de Valença

Cidadela de Cascais

Spain and Great Britain's Caribbean wranglings were the genesis of Puerto Rico's starfortage.

Fort San
Felipe del Morro

Castillo San Cristóbal

Romania's spent much of its history being wedged betwixt the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires, both of whom we can thank for the starforts that are there today.

Alba Iulia

Oradea Fortress

Cetățuia de pe Strajă

Russia has plenty of starforts, many of which were built in the 18th century as part of a series of fortified lines.

Peter and Paul
Fortress

New Dvina Fortress

Pillau Citadel

Kronshlot

Krasny Yar Fortress

Ivangorod Fortress

Serbia has several of centuries' worth of animosity betwixt the Habsburgs and the Ottomans to thank for its starforts.

Petrovaradin Fortress

Nis Fortress

What is today Slovakia spent almost a thousand years as part of the Hungarian, then Austro-Hungarian Empire. Starforts there were built as defense against the wicked Turkish horde.

Leopoldov

Komarno

The Dutch built South Africa's single starfort. Africa is a very lightly starforted continent, second only to Australia. And Australia is tied with Antarctica.

Castle of Good Hope

One of the world's leading exporters of starforts, Spain also has plenty at home!

Ciudadela de
Pamplona

Ciudadela de Jaca

Castillo de
San Felipe

Castillo de
San Fernando

Castillo de San Antón

Fortaleza
San Carlos

Fortaleza
de Hacho

Castillo de
Santa Catalina

Castillo de
Montjuïc

Real Fuerte de la
Concepción

Portugal and the Dutch were the starfort builders in Sri Lanka.

Galle Fort

Star Fort

The Dutch got to Suriname before Portugal did. To the winners go the starforts.

Fort New Amsterdam

Sweden was a power player in northern Europe in the starfort era, and as such built plenty all around them.

Castle
Elfsborg

Bohus Fortress

Varberg Fortress

Landskrona
Citadel

Drottningskärs
Kastell

The Dutch and Spanish both spent time doing their thing in Taiwan, but its one stellar starfort example was a native-built (if not -designed), world-class powerhouse!

Eternal Golden Castle

Turkey?! Turkey has starforts? Well, Turkey sort of has starforts.

Yedikule Fortress

Ukraine was once part of Russia. Now it is just the Ukraine. I'm sorry, is it the Ukraine, or plain old Ukraine? Whatever it is, it has some starforts.

Perekop Fortress

As an island nation whose existence depended on its navy, Great Britain's ports were its most important strategic asset. That and the fact that its expansion dovetailed nicely with the age of the starfort made for plenty for us to enjoy!

Tilbury Fort

Royal Citadel

Charles Fort

Fort Cumberland

James' Fort

Berwick Castle

Star Castle

Fort George

Pendennis Castle

Fort Monckton

Drop Redoubt

Fort Nelson

The Forts of Alderney

Magazine Fort

Fort Westmoreland

Deal Castle

Landguard Fort

Elizabeth Fort

Fort Camden

Fort Carlisle

Cove Fort

The Forts of Cork

Southsea Castle

Kerroogarroo Fort

Fort Charlotte

There are still Spanish, French and British starforts in what is today the United States, but one of the first imperatives for the new US government after the War of 1812 was to built starforts, as Washington DC had been put to the torch by the British and no one was interested in allowing that to happen again. You'll perhaps note that the US' starforts are heavily represented here: I don't know if the US necessarily has more standing starforts today than any other nation, but they're certainly the easiest for me to find and research!

Fort Monroe

Fort Ontario

Fort Stanwix

Fort Jefferson

Castillo de San Marcos

Fort McHenry

Fort Union

Fort Independence

Fort Morgan

Fort Crown Point

Fort Caroline

Fort Niagara

Fort Jay

Fort Negley

Fort Ticonderoga

Fort Trumbull

Fort Wayne

Fort Delaware

Fort Wood

Fort Washington

Fort Frederick

The Defenses of
Washington DC

Fort Pickens

Fort Macon

Fort Mifflin

Fort Pike

Fort Zachary Taylor

Fort Norfolk

Fort Adams

Fort Griswold

Fort Montgomery

Fort William Henry

Fort Jackson

Fort Moultrie

Fort Clinch

Fort Pulaski

Fort Schuyler

Fort King George

Fort Point

Fort James Jackson

Fort Duquesne

Fort Ligonier

Fort Knox

Fort Warren

Fort Constitution

Fort Roberdeau

Fort Curtis

Fort Massac

Fort McClary

Fort Gaines

Fort Anahuac

Fort Massachusetts

Fort Stevens

Fort Putnam

Fort Popham

Fort de Chartres

Russian Fort Elizabeth

Fort Sumter

Fort Dorchester

Fort Barrancas

Fort Snelling

Fort Scammell

Fort Livingston

Fort Caswell

Fort Richmond

Fort Tompkins

Fort Ninety Six

Fort Gadsden

Fort Christiansværn

Fort Meigs

Fort Toulouse

Fort Jackson

Fort Carroll

Presidio La Bahía

Fort Mackinac

Fort Holmes

Fort Loudoun

Uruguay benefited from Spain and Portugal's colonial squabbles...because colonial squabbles in the Age of Discovery led to starforts!

Fortaleza de Santa Teresa

Venezuela was Spain's first permanent settlement in South America, and Spain is known for its starfort-based colonization.

Castillo San Felipe

Castillo de San Carlos
de la Barra

Vietnam got a late start in the starfort game, but built some home-grown examples to combat the scourge of western imperialism.

Dien Hai Citadel