The
starfort first appeared in Italy at the end of the 15th century. Medieval-era fortifications tended to be ring-shaped, which not only allowed attackers relative safety when they got close to its walls, but were vulnerable to the new technology of artillery.
The design of the starfort did away with "dead zones," or areas in which an attacker cannot be brought under fire, by the use of triangular bastions which command all approaches. The starfort concept was adopted by nearly every European nation and in the New World from the 16th through 19th centuries. Starforts.com exists because
starforts are really cool! Their symmetric beauty and historic nature make them absolutely fascinating.
The mission of Starforts.com was initially to be the definitive list of all the world's starforts...and while I would suggest that this site
does boast a pretty impressive list, listing
every single starfort is likely an impossible task, because one thing that I've learned over ten years of researching them is that
starforts are everywhere! There are probably just as many
used-to-be-starforts as there are starforts that we can see on Google Maps (or in person) today...the
Quondam Starforts section of this site lists a few of them.