Machicolation | |
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Mâchicoulis, Piombatoio | |
![]() A box-machicolation of the Tal-Wejter Tower, in Birkirkara, Malta[1] | |
General information | |
Location | Europe, Middle East and North Africa |
Technical details | |
Material | Stone, sometimes wood |
A machicolation (French: mâchicoulis) is a floor opening between the supporting corbels of a battlement, through which stones or other material, such as boiling water, hot sand, quicklime[2] or boiling cooking oil, could be dropped on attackers at the base of a defensive wall.[3] A smaller version found on smaller structures is called a box-machicolation.