Aerial Views of Famous Fortresses

Contributor and drone pilot Eminorcks created this spectacular aerial video of one of the great fortresses of Europe.  The Alhambra of Granada lies in the province of the same name, one of the eight which make up the Andalusia region of Southern Spain.  It is the site of one of the more notable historical events of the second millennium AD: in 1492, Spain's King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella gave the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus the go-ahead for his first great voyage in which he "discovered" the New World.

Rumeli Fortress sits on the western (European) side of the Straits of Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey.  Rumeli played a critical role in the siege of the city then known as Constantinople by forces under Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, who overwhelmed the heavily-defended city after a 53-day siege in 1453.  The sack of what was then the world's largest city marked the end of the Byzantine Empire (the formal successor to the Roman Empire) and is considered one of the most important events of the Medieval period of history.

Masada is an ancient fortification built atop a plateau in the Judean Desert of southern Israel, overlooking the Dead Sea.  During the First Jewish War of the first century AD, Masada was the site of a famous siege by Roman troops following which the Jewish defenders (numbering perhaps a thousand) committed suicide en masse rather than surrender.  Contributor Nelly Volkovich used a drone to create an amazing aerial video of this hallowed mountaintop, which is a UNESCO World Heritage cultural site.  

Chittorgarh Fort is one of the most famous fortresses in India and indeed the world.  It's situated in the southeastern part of Rajasthan, India's westernmost state.  Dating to the 7th century AD, the fortress served as the capital of the Mewar Kingdom, one of the princely states which eventually allied with the British Raj against the Mughal Empire prior to Indian independence.  Seen in this excellent drone video by Man Meets the World, Chittorgargh is the largest of the six Rajasthan hill forts in a UNESCO World Heritage site.  

Conwy Castle is one of the most famous fortresses in Wales.  It's situated in a town of the same name, on the north coast in the North Wales region. The great landmark was built by King Edward I of England during his conquest of Wales, between 1283 and 1289. The castle was constructed as part of a wider project to create the walled town of Conwy.  Contributor Joshua Paul Gardner used a DJI Mavic Pro drone and a GoPro ground camera to create this video showing this important medieval landmark from a bird's eye view.

Some of the world's most impressive fortresses are located in the mountain passes of Europe which separated different kingdoms in historical times.  Among the greatest of these is Fort Fenestrelle in northwestern Italy.  It was built in what was then the Kingdom of Savoy to guard the approaches to the great city of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy.  Contributor Maxfrompine used a DJI Mavic Pro to create this epic aerial tour of this landmark, the largest alpine fortress in Europe.  

Contributor Taleporos created this aerial view of a famous  Ottoman fortress on the Greek island of Crete.  Izzedin was built on Souda Bay in 1872, during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire.  It moved to prison use during Crete's brief period as an independent country in the early 20th century, and it continued to be used as a prison once Crete became part of Greece in 1908.  During the decades when the country was ruled by a series of military juntas, it became notorious as a detention center for political prisoners. 

Multiple Drone Video of the Week Winner oculusfilms brings us this fantastic drone video of Pakistan's Rohtas Fortress, one of the largest in Southern Asia.  The fortress is located near the city of Jhelum in the northern part of the province of Punjab, in what was once a strategic position between the mountains to its north and the Punjab Plain to its south.  The structure dates to the mid-16th century, when a large portion of the subcontinent was ruled by the Suri Empire, which subsequently gave way to the Mughal Empire.  

Contributor NGreyTravels used a DJI drone to create this remarkable aerial video of one of the world's most famous hilltop structures.  The Sigiriya ("Lion Rock") is a gigantic rock fortress and monastery complex located near the center of Sri Lanka, the island nation off the southern coast of India.  The fortress was built in the 5th century AD as a new capital city by Kashyapa I, a long-serving king of Sri Lanka.  It was later converted to a monastery, which was active until the 14th century.

Top contributor Freeway Prod used a DJI Inspire 2 drone to create this stunning aerial video of the Citadel de Sisteron, a very well known fortification in the foothills of the French Alps.  The town of Sisteron is located in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department, which is just to the south of the Hautes-Alpes department in the heart of the French Alps.  The citadel was built to take advantage of Sisteron's strategic location in the middle of a gap between two mountain ridges, once known as the Gateway to Provence.

The Italian city of Genoa was once one of the most powerful entities in Europe.  The city sits on the Ligurian Sea but is otherwise surrounded by the Apennine Mountains.  Genoa's ability to defend itself against invasion through the mountains was critical to maintaining its power as a city-state, and a defensive system was developed over centuries which made Genoa one of the world's most heavily fortified cities.  In this drone video by info@coverphoto.it, you'll get a bird's eye look at some of these defenses.

Contributor AVEA - Alta Vistic Epic Aerial created this marvelous drone video of a famous fortress in northern Wales.  Harlech Castle is situated within Snowdonia National Park in Gwynned County.  The great landmark was built by King Edward I during his conquest of Wales in the late 13th century.  During the War of the Roses in the 15th century, Harlech was the site of a famous siege by Yorkist forces which ended in a Lancastrian surrender in 1468.  It's known as the longest siege in British history.

Contributor and drone pilot Alex Avsharov created this magnificent drone video of a famous Armenian fortress.  Amberd (which translates roughly to "fortress in the clouds") is in the Aragatsotn Province, which covers the west-central portion of this former Soviet republic.  The fortification was built in the 7th century AD.  Amberd played a key role in the centuries-long struggles between the Turks, Armenians, and Mongols, although it was abandoned in the 13th century and now sits in a ruined state.

Παλαμήδι is the Greek word for Palamidi, the great fortress of the Peloponnese region built by the Venetian Empire during its second occupation of Greece. The fortress is made of stone and was completed in 1714. Unfortunately for the Venetians, the Turks captured the fortress only a year later and occupied it for nearly a century until the Greeks took it, and their country, back in 1822. AirVuz contributor and pilot Sphereview does a marvelous job showcasing the centuries-old fortress in this aerial video. 

Airvuz contributor India's Drones Company works throughout the state of Rajasthan in northern India. This video is a collection of drone footage from around the state which was put together for a tour company interested in showing off the region.  The highlight of the reel is some epic bird's eye footage of the great fortification and palace complex called Amer.  Located just a few km/mi from the state capital of Jaipur, this magnificent structure is one of a series of famous hill forts around Rajisthan.  

Contributor Nathan Jermy used a DJI Mavic Air drone to aerially film the famed Walls of Ston, in the Southeast European nation of Croatia.  The walls were built in the 14th century to protect the town of Ston, one of the most important in the Republic of Ragussa whose capital was in nearby Dubrovnik.  In terms of footage, it's considered the longest fortification system in Europe.   The Walls of Ston were used as a backdrop for scenes around King's Landing in HBO's Game of Thrones, much of which was filmed on the Dalmatian Coast.  

Situated on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Fort Marlborough was one of the most important defensive British fortifications during the Colonial Era.  It was built in the early 18th century by the British East India Company, which was largely responsible for creating the British Empire in Asia.  Thereafter, until the dissolution of the Empire after World War II, Fort Marlborough was considered the strongest British fortification in southern/southeastern Asia after its fortress in Madras, India.

The spectacular medieval Srebrenik Fortress lies in the northeastern corner of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeastern Europe.  While the fortress was abandoned shortly after being built in the 14th century, it is one of the best-preserved medieval fortresses in all of Europe.  It was the birthplace of Tvrtko I Kotromanić first king of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Contributor Tamas Vargas used a DJI Mavic Pro drone to create this amazing video, which begins with a selfie and then reveals the mighty fortification.

The Fort of St. Vincent (Belém Tower) lies in the Tagus River in Lisbon.  It was built in the early 16th century to fortify the Portuguese capital city's defenses against a seaborn invasion.  However, despite being later strengthened, the tower surrendered to Spanish forces after just a few hours of battle.  It was subsequently used for a prison.  After falling into a state of disrepair, the tower was fully renovated in the 1990's.  It is now listed as one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal.

Kumbhalgarh is one of India's most famous fortresses.  It's located in the Aravalli Mountains in the western part of the country.  Kumbahalgarh was built in the 15th century on the orders of the ruler of Mewar, a kingdom which covered the southern part of what is now the state of Rajasthan.  Its perimeter walls run for 36 km (about 22 mi.), making it one of the largest fortress complexes in the world.  Seen from above in this excellent drone video by Discover India, it's part of a UNESCO World Heritage site known as the Hill Forts of Rajasthan.

Here's a bird's eye view of an important fortress in the northern Netherlands, near the German border, compliments of contributor and pilot Wout.  Bourtange Fortress is near the city of Groningen, the largest city in the northern Dutch province of the same name. It was completed in the late 16th century, during the course of the long fight for Dutch independence from Spain called the Eighty Years' War.  The star-shaped fort was situated here to cover a road between Groningen and northwestern Germany.   

The fortress town of Briançon in the French Alps bears a number of distinctions.  First of all, it is the highest town in France with at least 2,000 inhabitants.  Second, its strategic position relative to a key mountain pass made it one of the most heavily fortified cities in Europe after the current structures were built in the 17th century to protect against invasion from the (then) Holy Roman Empire.  Famously, the town withstood a long siege in 1815, near the end of the Napoleonic Wars.  

As seen here in this drone video by paparazzo, Croatia's Klis Fortress is one of the most famous in Europe.  It sits astride a mountain pass through the Dinaric Alps, just east of the city of Split.  The structure began to take its present form in the 9th century AD when it became the seat of the Kings of Croatia.  Its period of greatest prominence came in the early 16th century when the fortress withstood a fearsome decades-long siege by the Ottomans and became seen as the frontier between Christianity and Islam.  

Check out this stunning drone video of a well-known castle-fortress in the Caucasus republic of Georgia, compliments of contributor Maikl_rus.  Rabati Castle is located in the town of Akhaltsikhe in Samtskhe–Javakheti, one of the country's main southern regions.  The original fortress here dates to the 9th century AD, and in 1393 it withstood an attack from the much-feared warrior Tamerlane.  The fortress was basically completely rebuilt by the Ottomans in the 17th-18th centuries.  

Contributor NTG Drones created this beautiful drone's eye view of a fortress in the northern part of the Netherlands.   Pettelaarse Schans is a star-shaped fort (sometimes called a bastion fort) which is situated just south of 's-Hertogenbosch, one of the main cities of the Noord-Brabant region of the country.  Constructed in 1623, the fort was successfully besieged by Dutch forces in 1629, during the latter part of the 80 Years' War in which the Dutch won their independence from Imperial Spain.  

Lestilestudios created this drone video of Fort St. Angelo on the Mediterranean island of Malta.  It is situated in the Grand Harbor, in the city of Birgu (Città Vittoriosa).  Built by the Knights of St. John, the fortress was the focal point of the Great Siege of Malta in 1565.  Here, the fort's defenders held off an amphibious invasion by the Ottoman Empire, marking the end of the Ottoman bid for control of the Mediterranean.  About 450 years later, it was a filming location for the Red Keep seen in Season 1 of Game of Thrones.  

Contributor Hittheroadlat used his drone to create a stunning video of the Kastellet fortress in Copenhagen, Denmark's largest and capital city.  The fortification was initially completed in 1626 and later further strengthened during the course of the country's long periods of conflict with its neighbor Sweden.  It's considered one of the better preserved examples of the star-shaped or bastion fortress, an early-modern design which evolved as a defensive response to improved artillery technology.

Brand-new contributor PeeJay brings us this marvelous drone video of Dunnottar Castle, a famous fortification in northeastern Scotland.  Located on a tiny peninsula in Aberdeenshire, the structure dates to the 15th-16th centuries.  Long believed to be virtually impregnable, the Scottish Crown Jewels were moved here for safekeeping during the English Civil War in the mid-17th century; it later played an important role in the 18th century Jacobite Uprising.  More recently, Dunnottar was used as a filming location for the 1996 movie Hamlet.  

Dinas Brân is one of the most famous fortifications in the northern part of Wales, United Kingdom.  It sits over the town of Llangollen in Denbighshire, believed to be the longest-settled part of the region.  Built on the site of an Iron Age hilltop fort, the current structure dates to the 13th century.  The castle was essentially abandoned and left in a semi-ruined state following the conquest of Wales by England later that century.   The castle features prominently in numerous stories of Welsh mythology.  

Content creator and pilot Alin Constantin used a DJI Mavic Pro drone to create this stunning aerial video of the Rupea Citadel, a very well-known Romanian fort and the site of some of the oldest archaeological remains in Europe.  It's in the southeastern corner of Transylvania, near a pass in the Carpathian Mountains that define the eastern and southern boundaries of the Transylvanian Plateau.  While the fortress dates to Roman times, artifacts excavated at the site date to as long ago as 5500 BC.  

Contributor and drone pilot Maikl_rus created this beautiful drone video of one of the most well-known fortresses in the Caucasus republic of Georgia.  Khertvisi is situated in the Meskheti region in the south-central part of the country, along a traditional invasion route from the south.  The site was home to a structure which was allegedly destroyed by Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC.  The current structure was built in the 14th century and served a military purpose until well into the 19th century.  

AirVuz contributor Damiano862 brings us this marvelous aerial view of a famous medieval fortress in Italy called Rocca Calascio.  Originally built in the 10th century AD, the fortification occupies a key location in the Apennines Mountains in the Abruzzo region in the west-central part of the country.  The highest of the Appenine fortresses, it sits at an elevation of about 4.8k ft. above sea level or around 1.5k m. It's been used as a filming locations for several movies, notably The Name of the Rose (1986) and The American (2010).

Portugal's Fort of São Vicente was constructed in the early 1800's on the orders of England's Duke of Wellington, who commanded the allied armies combating Napoleon Bonaparte's forces during the Peninsular War.  The fortification was designed to protect the nearby Portuguese capital city of Lisbon from the threat posed by French forces.  Seen from above in this drone video by contributor SJetMan, the Y-shaped São Vicente was considered one of the strongest positions in Europe.  

Contributor newcastlemale created this beautiful drone video of a famous fortification in northern England called Dunstanburgh Castle.  It's located in a strategic spot on the coast of Northumberland, the northernmost of the English counties.  Dunstanburgh was constructed by a powerful nobleman in the 14th century but soon fell under Crown control.  The fortress played an important role in the 15th-century dynastic struggle known as the War of the Roses, coming under siege on multiple occasions.   

Here's a bird's eye view of one of the most famous forts of southern India, compliments of contributor and drone pilot manofmysore.  The Manjarabad Fort was built in the late 18th century for the ruler of Mysore, a kingdom which covered much of South India prior to its absorption into the British Raj.  Manjarabad is what's known as a star fort, a configuration which was imported from Europe by its French designers.  The fortress sits in the hills of the mountainous Chikmagalur District of the state of Karnataka.  

Castro de Santa Trega is a famous fortress in northwestern Spain.  It's situated in the town of A Guarda in Pontevedra, the southwesternmost of the four provinces of the Galicia region.  The original site dates to Roman times, and occupies a strategic position on the mountain bearing the same name.  It was occupied for roughly two hundred years, between 100 BC and 100 AD.  Contributor Diego_Al_Al used a DJI Mavic Pro drone to create this aerial video of the fort, one of Galicia's most popular tourist spots.  

Check out this drone video of an important fortress on the coast of Southwestern England, compliments of contributor Mikee1554.  Calshot Castle is located on a sandbank at the opening of Southampton Water, an estuary just north of the Isle of Wight in Hampshire.  It's part of a system of fortifications built by King Henry VII during the 16th century to protect the English coasts from a possible French invasion.  Calshot was modernized several times and continued to be used into the 20th century.

With London lying just a short distance from the mouth of the Thames River, protecting England's capital city from seaborne invasion has been a major strategic imperative for centuries.  In this drone video by contributor and pilot obsizusz, you'll get a bird's eye view of one of the most important historical fortifications on the Thames Estuary: Tilbury Fort.  Originally constructed during the reign of Henry VII and was subsequently enlarged based on prevailing threats, it appeared as a Turkish fort in the 2017 blockbuster "Wonder Woman". 

Top contrinbutor Mattcoq created this beautiful drone video of a well known medieval Bulgarian fortress.  It's called Mezek Castle, and it's located in the municipality of Svilengrad in the Haskovo Province in the south-central part of the country.  The castle, which dates to the 11th century AD, covers a large area of 6.5k square meters and has nine towers.  This stone-constructed landmark is considered to be amongst the best-preserved medieval fortresses in this mountainous Southeast European country.

The Downs is an area of coastline in Southeastern England which offers some protection to shipping - it's not quite a harbor but it has functioned like one at times.  For this reason, for centuries this area just north of Dover was deemed of significant strategic importance.  This manifested itself most clearly in the two fortresses you will see in this drone video by oszibusz - Deal and Walmer Castles.  Both date to the reign of Henry VIII in the 16th century and were maintained as artillery forts through the 19th century.  

Contributor and pilot Mikel_julio used a DJI Mavic Pro Platinum to create this memorable aerial video of one of the best preserved fortresses in Spain.  The New Castle of Manzanares el Real is a 15th century fortified palace which is near the town of the same name in the Madrid Community in the center of the country.  Famously, the fortress was used as a shooting location for the 1961 film El Cid starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren.  Also known as the Castle of los Mendoza, the complex now also houses a museum.

The Dominican Republic's Fortaleza Ozama was one of the first fortresses built by the Spanish conquistadoras.  It was constructed in 1502 (just a decade after the first Columbus Voyage) to protect the city of Santo Domingo on the south shore of the island, which was the first permanently settled colonial outpost in the New World.  Contributor Moises_Arias used a drone to create this spectacular bird's eye view of the fortress overlooking the Caribbean, which has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.  

Contributor JB-Ireland created this drone video of a historically important fortress in southern Ireland.  Carrigafoyle Castle is located near the town of Ballylongford in County Kerry.  In 1580, the fortress was a key position held by the Irish during the Second Desmond Rebellion, which sought to overthrow the English rule of the island. On Easter of that year, English forces successfully besieged the fortress and killing all of its defenders, crushing the rebellion which had been led by Gerald FitzGerald, 15th Earl of Desmond.

Former DVOW Finalist TravelPenguin brings us this stunning drone video of the great Indian city of Jodhpur, the second-largest city in the western state of Rajasthan.  Most of the first part of the video was shot over Jaswant Thada, a cenotaph (a type of tomb) on the city's northern outskirts.  The rest of the video was shot over the city's main attraction: the giant hilltop fortress of Mehrangarh.  Built in the 15th century, this landmark was used as a principal filming location for the 2012 Batman movie the Dark Knight Rises.   

Contributor Maikl_rus created this drone video of an important historical site in Central Russia.  It's called the Zaraysk Kremlin, and it's a 16th century citadel (essentially a small fortress-city) near the town of the same name.  It's situated in the Moscow Oblast (province) but is some distance (aroound 160 km or 100 mi.) southeast of Russia's capital city.  The fortress played an important role in defending the heart of Russia from attacks by Crimeans Tartars, which occurred through the late 17th century.

Check out this fantastic drone video of the pre-historic Irish fortress known as Dún Aonghasa, compliments of contributor Peter and Loki.  It's located atop a cliff on Inishmore (Inis Mór), an island off of Ireland's western coast.  It's believed that parts of the fortress date to about 1100 BC, during the Bronze Age of Ireland, although portions of it may date to the somewhat later Iron Age.  The fortress structure consists of four concentric walls made of dry stone, the outermost of which covers an area of 14 acres (six hectares).  

Check out this beautiful drone video of a medieval fortress in the Czech Republic, compliments of contributor MIAPVIDEOS.  It's called Valdštejn Castle, and it's a 13th century Gothic style ruined structure near the town of Turnov.  It's in the Liberec Region, which is the northernmost of the 14 Czech first-level administrative units.  The landmark is part of the Bohemian Paradise protected area northeast of Prague, which is also home to the somewhat better-known Trosky Castle.

France's Fort l'Écluse is situated in the foothills of the Jura Mountains in the Ain Department, astride a natural route between France and Switzerland which was known since the time of Julius Caesar.  The current fortress dates to the 12th century and expanded in the 17th century; it was heavily damaged by Austrian in the waning days of the Napoleonic wars.  Seen here in this drone video by Najibk, the fort was one of the last French positions to surrender after the Fall of France in June, 1940.  

Content creator and pilot JuliusComeau created this drone video of Fort Beauséjour, a fortress on the isthmus which connects the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.  It's a five sided star fort, built by the French, and eventually ceded to the British who renamed in Fort Cumberland.  It's situated on the Isthmus of Chignecto, which was an important strategic position during the struggles between Britain and France over the Canadian territories in the 18th century.

Check out this amazing drone video of a modern-era fortress in Montenegro, compliments of contributor FoxCreative.  Fort Gorazda is situated near the town of Kotor, the principal city of Kotor Bay.  The fortress was built in the late 19th century by Austria-Hungary as a means to protect their naval base in the Bay of Kotor.  The fort saw some action during World War I as Austria-Hungary battled Allied-aligned forces, and was used by the Yugoslav Army until the country dissolved in the early 1990's.  

Some of Europe's most powerful fortresses were built in the passes of the Alps Mountains near the modern-day French/Italian border.  One of these fortifications is Fort Bard, which is built on a rocky promontory in the Aosta Valley of northwestern Italy.  Seen in this excellent drone video by Enrico Pescantini, the fortress was built in the mid-19th century by the rulers of the Kingdom of Savoy (which led the unification of Italy).  The fort was used as a filming location for the 2015 blockbuster movie Avengers: Age of Ultron.  

Check out this beautiful drone video of Switzerland's famous Castles of Bellinzona, compliments of contributor and pilot Kpax.  Lying in their namesake town at the foot of the Alps, the three landmarks are actually fortresses: Castelgrande, Montebello, and Sasso Corbaro.  The location of these fortifications is testament to the area's strategic importance; its geographic location affords access both to the Po Valley in Italy as well as to key mountain passes.   The castles have been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.  

Jaipur is the capital of India's northwestern state of Rajasthan.  Together with Delhi and Agra, it's part of the Golden Triangle, a popular tourist circuit.  Jaipur is known first and foremost for a chain of fortresses which surround the city, which was founded in 1727.  In this excellent drone video by Man Meets the World, you'll get an aerial tour of three of the most famous of these fortresses: Jaigarh, Nahargah, and Amer.  Amer is the most well-known of the three; it's one of the six Hill Forts of Rajasthan UNESCO World Heritage site. 

Check out this drone video of a well-known fortress in Bulgaria, compliments of contributor Mattcoq.  It's called Matochina Fortress, and it's located in a town of the same name in the Haskovo Province, in the southeastern part of the island.  It is believed to have been originally built during the Antiquity, although most of the current structure dates to the 12th-14th centuries.  The fortress was part of the defensive system around Adrianople (now Edirne), the third-most important city of the Ottoman Empire. 

For his 100th upload to AirVuz, top contributor oszibusz brings us this beautiful aerial view of a famous 16th century fortress in southern England.  Upnor Castle is located near the mouth of the River Medway in County Kent.  It was constructed early in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I to defend the Royal Navy shipyard at Chatham (just upstream) from a possible attack by Spain.   Following the Raid on the Medway in 1667 during the Second Anglo Dutch War, the Upnor fortress was essentially abandoned in favor of newer downstream defenses.

Here is an excellent drone video of a well known Bulgarian mountain fortress, compliments of contributor Danovski Air. Anevo Fortress is situated in the foothills of the Balkan Mountains in Plovdiv Province, in the middle of the country.  It was built in the early 12th century, in an area that has been inhabited since the Antiquity.  At one time, it had eight defensive towers.  For a time in the Middle Ages, the fortress was strong enough to be the center of a small mini-state that ruled over the region.     

You may have heard of Königstein Fortress but you've probably never seen it from the perspective provided in this drone video by contributor and pilot SKYDRONAUTS.  One of the largest fortresses in Europe, it sits atop a hill overlooking the Elbe River near Dresden, in Saxony.  Situated in an important river location near the border with historical Czech lands, the fortress dates to the 13th century and has been enlarged many times.  It's one of the largest tourist attractions in the former East Germany.  

Even when England's Royal Navy was at the height of its relative power in the 19th century, the country was vulnerable to seaborne invasion in several places.  One of these was the Thames Estuary, which presented an unacceptable risk to the capital city of London.  In this drone video by oszibusz, you'll get an aerial view of one of the fortifications erected to protect against this eventuality.  It's called Coalhouse Fort, and it was constructed during the 1860's on the north bank of the river.  

Top contributor Jeff Walrich combined aerial footage from a DJI Mavic Pro 2 with stabilized ground footage to create this beautiful video of historic Fort Frederick, Maryland.  Situated on the Potomac River about a two hour drive northwest of Washington, DC, Fort Frederick was built at the outset of the French and Indian War in the mid-18th century.  It was used as a POW camp during the Revolutionary War, then garrisoned by Union forces in the Civil War to protect key infrastructure in the area.  

Râșnov Citadel is a famous fortress in the southeastern part of the Romanian region of Transylvania.  It was built in the 13th century to protect the inhabitants of the namesake city from invaders coming over the Southern Carpathian Mountains through the Bran Pass.  The fortress withstood such invasions from the Tartars and later Ottoman forces, although it fell in 1612 when the invaders were able to cut off the defenders' water supply.  You can get a bird's eye view of the famous fortress in this drone video by Nelstill.  

Check out this amazing vlog, which features aerial footage from one of the most formidable fortresses on the Indian Subcontinent.  It's called Rohtas Fort, and it's near the city in the province of Punjab (the most populous of Pakistan's four provinces, home to over half the country's population).  It was built in the mid-16th century and was captured shortly thereafter by the Mughul Empire, then captured by Sikh forces in 1825.  The fort could hold a garrison of 30,000 men and was one of the largest in Asia.   

The city of Kotor, Montenegro sits at the southern end of the inner section of the Bay of Kotor, an inlet of the Adriatic Sea.  During the long centuries when the great city-state of Venice dominated the eastern Mediterranean, Kotor became one of the most important fortified strongholds, withstanding sieges by the Ottomans in 1538 and 1657.  In this marvelous drone video by AirVuz contributor The Hobby Traveler, you'll get an aerial tour of San Giovanni (St. John's Fortress), one of the key components of this giant defensive system.

AirVuz contributor Jaybee2786 used a DJI Mavic 3 to aerial film one Scotland's Tantallon Castle, the great fortification which once guarded the city of Edinburgh.  It's located near the southern entrance to the Firth of Forth in East Lothian, more or less due east of the Scottish capital city.  The fortification was originally built on the orders of Scottish nobleman William Douglas, 1st Earl of Douglas.  It saw action during numerous dynastic conflicts within Scotland and later in the English Civil War of the mid-17th century.  

In the 1850's, England's Royal Navy constructed a giant artificial harbor between the town of Weymouth and the Isle of Portland in County Dorset.  Shortly thereafter, Fort Nothe was built just north of Portland Harbor to protect it from seaborne invasion,  presumably from France.   The guns of the "D"-shaped fort were never fired in anger, and the facility was closed in the 1950's.   Considered one of the UK's best-preserved 19th century artillery forts, you can see it from above in this drone video by Alta Vista Epic Aerials.

Caernarfon Castle is one of the most well-known historical landmarks in the United Kingdom.  Seen in this drone video by scdronemedia, the medieval stone fortress is located in its namesake town in County Gwynedd in northwestern Wales.  It was constructed in the late 13th century on the orders of English King Edward I, who was seeking to impose permanent control of Wales by its eastern neighbor.  The fortification played an important role in a number of rebellions against English rule from the late 13th to the early 15th centuries.

Top contributor Invincible Bumble Bee Productions created this beautiful video of one of the great landmarks of Puerto Rico: the Castle of San Felipe (Castillo San Felipe del Morro) in San Juan.  The original fort was built in the mid-16th century on the orders of Spain's King Charles V to defend the port of San Juan on the northern side of the island, which was considered one of the most important spots in the then-young Spanish Empire in the New World.  It was rebuilt later that century and further modified in the 1700's.  

Check out this drone video of a well-known fortification in the Southeast European country of Albania, compliments of contributor World of Albania.  Ali Pasha Castle is located in Butrint, the southernmost of the country's major cities, which lies just across an Adriatic Sea strait from the Greek island of Corfu.  The original structure dates to the 15th or 16th century, when the region was under control of the Venetian Empire.  The current structure dates to the early 19th century and is named after an important Ottoman vassal.  

Take a first person view (FPV) drone tour of Russia's famous Peter and Paul Fortress, compliments of Shamkhal_fpv.  The complex sits on its own island near the mouth of the Neva River in the heart of St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city.  It was established in the early 18th century by Tsar Peter the Great, who built his namesake city to replace Moscow as Russia's capital.  Originally constructed to defend from an attack by Sweden from the north which never materialized, it went on to serve as a prison for nearly 200 years.  

The Acrocorinth is an important historical site in the Peloponnese region of southern Greece.  It is a fortress situated on a monolith rock overlooking the ruins of the ancient city of Corinth, about 5 km (around 3 mi.) southwest of modern-day Corinth.  Occupied for thousands of years, the fortress was once known as one of the Fetters of Greece by the Macedonians who controlled the region for a time.  Seen here in this drone video by G Traveller, the Acrocorinth played an active defensive role until the 19th century.  

For a second upload to AirVuz, contributor and pilot spproductions brings us this fantastic drone video of a famous medieval fortress in southern Greece.  It's called Larissa Castle, and it's located on a hill overlooking the ancient city of Argos in the eastern Peloponnese.  The complex which is currently standing was constructed by the Byzantine Empire in the early 13th century.  It became an important position within the Venetian Empire before falling to the Ottomans in the middle of the 15th century.  

Contributor Santiago created this spectacular drone video of an important hilltop fortification in central Spain.  The Castle of Jadraque is situated in the Guadalajara province in the Castilla-La Mancha region.  Built atop an old Roman fortification, the Moorish stronghold was taken by Christian forces in the 11th century.   Famously, the castle was mentioned in the Song of El Cid, the epic medieval poem of unknown authorship which chronicles the great, bloody struggle against Moorish control known as the Reconquesta.

AirVuz contributor PL-UA History by Drone brings us this excellent drone video of a famous medieval fortress in Ukraine.  Khotyn Fortress is located on the right (eastern) bank of the Dneister River, in the western oblast (province) of Chernivtsi.  Originally dating to the 14th century, the complex played an important role in the centuries-long struggle for control of the historical region of Bessarabia, which involved (at various times) the Ottoman and Russian Empires, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Romania, the USSR, and others.  

Prior to the 20th century, the city of New Orleans was considered highly vulnerable to seaborne invasion.  As the area passed from Spanish to French to American to Confederate and back to US control, a series of fortresses were built to protect the great city from attack via the Gulf of Mexico.  In this drone video by AirWorthy Tours, you'll get aerial views of four of these fortresses: Fort Pike, built during the War of 1812; the ruins of the old Spanish Fort; and Forts St. Philip and Jackson, site of a major Civil War siege.  

Former Drone Video of the Week Finalist TravelPenguin brings us this excellent drone view of Portugal's Sagres Fortress.  It's located at the tip of a promontory in the region of Algarve which represents the southwesternmost point of mainland Europe.  The fortification was originally built in the 16th century, as Portugal was assembling its vast overseas empire.  Heqavily damaged by the great earthquake of 1755 which destroyed Lisbon, the fortress was restored to its present state in the middle of the 20th century.  

The city of Cartagena, Colombia has a storied history.  During Colonial days, the city became the most important port in the Spanish Empire, serving as the hub through which the vast silver and gold deposits of the Western Hemisphere passed en route to the mother country.  Key to the defense of Cartagena was the Castillo San Felipe de Barajas (San Felipe Castle), which sits in a highly strategic position on a hill overlooking the city.  Seen here in this drone video by rkmaerial, the great fortification was built beginning in 1536.

Viewers of the French TV game show Fort Boyard will likely recognize the subject of this fantastic first person view (FPV) video by FPV pilot R-project.   The show, which began in 1990 and is widely syndicated around the world, is set and filmed at this defensive fortification in the strait of Pertuis d'Antioche, between the cities of La Rochelle and Rochefort.  While a fortress was considered here during the reign of Louis XIV in the 17th century, its construction didn't begin until the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1801.  

New contributor Icarus57 brings us this excellent drone video of a castle-fortress in the eastern part of France.  It's called Fort de Joux (Château de Joux), and it's located in the Jura Mountains in La Cluse-et-Mijoux, a commune in the department of Doubs.  Dating originally to the 11th century, in the 15th century it took on its current form as a border fortress by the then-Duke of Burgundy.  In the 1930's, it became part of the Maginot Line, serving as a defensive fortification against a possible German invasion through Switzerland.  

Žabljak Crnojevića is a famous medieval fortress in Montenegro, a small country of the Balkans region of Southeastern Europe.  Seen in this drone video by former Drone Video of the Week Winner Beautiful Montenegro, the fortification is situated near the mouth of the Morača River in Lake Skadar, in the southern part of the country.  Dating to the 10th century AD, the fortress came under Ottoman control in 1478 near the end of the First Ottoman–Venetian War.  Ottoman control was relinquished in 1878 pursuant to the Treaty of Berlin.  

The UK's Camber Castle is one of a series of so-alled Device Forts built on the orders of King Henry the VIII in the early 1600's during a time of a heightened risk of invasion from England's then-eternal enemy, France.  The fortification lies on a body of water at the mouth of several rivers in East Sussex.  Seen in this drone video by JokerVision, the fort was re-designed in about 1540 to a concentric configuration.  Within just a few decades, artilllery forts had moved to a star-shaped configuration, leaving Camber obsolete.  

For a first upload to AirVuz, brand-new contributor Luc Lics brings us this excellent drone video of a well-known ruined fortress in Poland.  Olsztyn Castle is located on a hill in Silesian Voivodeship, one of the country's southern provinces.  It's part of a chain of fortifications called the Trail of the Eagle's Nests, which dates to the 14th century and which served to protect the Kingdom of Poland from its southern neighbor, the Kingdom of Bohemia.   The landmark has been in a ruined state since the 17th century.  

Check out this drone video of a little known archaeological site in Peru, compliments of contributor CUSCO DRONE.  It's called Pumamarka, and it's located in the Cusco region which covers the south-central part of the country.  The site contains the ruins of a fortress built by the Inca civilization which ruled over much of the Andes region in pre-Columbian times.  Overlooking the confluence of two mountain rivers, the fortress once guarded the entrance to the Sacred Valley. The site is accessible via a walking trail from the town of Pallata. 

Talented content creator Marco Miele brings us this beautiful drone video of  famous medieval Italian fortress.  Gradara Castle is located in a town of the same name in the Marche region of east-central Italy.  Dating to the 11th century and distinguished by its 800 meter (about 2.7k ft.) outer wall, it's one of the region's most popular tourist attractions.  The castle was fought over by two rival Italian noble families of the Middle Ages, and earned a reference in Dante's immortal Divine Comedy.  

Multiple Drone vIdeo of the Week Winner oculusfilms brings us this excellent drone video from Pakistan's Naukot Fort.  It's located in the city of Mithi in the Tharparkar District, in the southern part of the province of Sindh.  Built in the first part of the 19th century, the fortification is constructed almost entirely of brick.  It's sometimes called  "Gateway to the Thar Desert" by virtue of its location relative to the vast desert which covers parts of modern-day Pakistan and India.  

Take in these drone views of an epic Yoga Day celebration atop a historic hill fort in the heart of India.  Gwalior Fortress is located near its namesake town in Madhya Pradesh, the giant state which covers much of the geographic center of India.  The fortress originally dates to at least the 10th century AD, and possibly even earlier.  The "modern" part of the complex, which consists of two palaces and surrounding fortifications, dates to around 1500.  These were built on the orders of the ruler of the Rajput dynasty Tomaras of Gwalior.  

For a first upload to AirVuz, brand-new contributor Adrian Krupczynski brings us this excellent drone video of a famous fortification in Poland called Ogrodzieniec Castle.  It is situated in a highland area called the Polish Jura, in the south-central part of the country.  Originally built in the 14th century and later substantially altered, the structure is part of a string of defensive fortifications now referred to as the Trail of the Eagle's Nests, a chain of over two dozen castles and fortresses between Częstochowa and Kraków.

Istanbul is a major hub in Turkey, originally because of its location - straddling Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus Strait. The modern, massive skyscrapers belie the ancient history this city carries with it. From Egyptian obelisks, to the Roman-era Hippodrome, and iconic Byzantine structures like Hagia Sophia, its history is broad. One such historic site is the Yedikule Fortress, built right after the fall on Constantinople, that can be seen in this incredible, DVOW nominated video.

Former DVOW Finalist nayyar2006 created this amazing drone video of Pakistan's Ranikot Fort, one of the world's largest fortifications.  Ranikot Fort is located about an hour's drive north of Hyderabad in Sindh, the country's southeastern province.  While current fortress structure dates to the 17th century, it took on much of its present shape early in the 19th century.  Ranikot's walls run a total of about 20 mi. (32 km), making it the world's largest fortress measured by interior space.  It's sometimes called the Great Wall of Sindh.    

Mirjan Fort is a historic landmark in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.  Seen in this drone video by AirVuz contributor Amith, it's situated on the Aganashini River just a few mi./km from its mouth on the Arabian Sea, a bit south of Karnataka's border with its neighboring state of Goa.  While there is some uncertainty about the early history of the site, the most widely-accepted version credits its construction to Queen Rani Chennabhairadevi, who ruled the area when it was a province of Vijayanagara Empire in the late 16th century.

Methoni is an important town in the Messenia Region of southern Greece, which covers the westernmost of the four "fingers" that extend from the Peloponnese Peninsula.  Its fortress played an important role during the Middle Ages and Early Modern periods, when the Peloponnese coastline was the subject of intense struggles between (at various times) the Byzantine, Venetian, and Ottoman Empires.  In this drone video by walkinginhellas, you'll get an aerial view of the town as well as the fortress, which lies immediately to its south.

The Castle of Grinzane Cavour is a historic defensive fortification in the Piedmont region of northern Italy.  It's situated in the commune of Grinzane Cavour, which is part of the province of Cuneo.  The original structure dates to the 13th or 14th century.  The structure later served as a residence for a series of important Italian nobles, notably Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, who is credited with leading the unification of modern Italy in the 19th century.  The castle became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2014.  

During the 16th century, the then-mighty Kingdom of Portugal constructed a series of fortresses along the banks of the Tagus River estuary to protect its capital city Lisbon from its main vulnerability - seaborne invasion.  The most important of these was the Fort of São Julião da Barra, which is located on a promontory on the northern bank of the river's final outlet.  AirVuz contributor and pilot DroneCascais used a DJI Mavic Pro drone to create a spectacular bird's eye view great fort, which was completed in 1568.

AirVuz contributor davidegalloni brings us this excellent drone video of a World War I era artillery fortress in northern Italy.  It's called Fort Montecchio-Lusardi, and it's located in Lecco, one of the provinces of the Lombardy Region.  The structure was built between 1911-14, shortly before Italy's entrance to the conflict on the Allied side in 1915.  Located to the west of what turned out to be the front, the fortress never saw action during the war.  The fort was armed with four (4) 149mm guns of French manufacture.   

Xàtiva Castle is a fortification in the hills overlooking the town of the same name, about an hour's drive south of the Mediterrranean port city of Valencia.  Seen in this drone video by belogaev_art, the complex consists of two fortresses: the Castillo Menor, which dates to Roman times, and the Castillo Mayor, which was built during the medieval period.  During the latter era, the castle played an important role in the Reconquesta, the struggle in which Christian forces regained control of the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim rule.  

Check out this excellent drone video of a historic landmark in northern Portugal, compliments of contributor jlcarrasco.bicisydrones.  It's called the Ínsua Fort, and it's a monastery-fortress situated on a small island in the in the municipality of Caminha in the Viana do Castelo District, which covers the northwestern corner of the country.  Originally dating to the 14th century, the fort took on its current form in the 17th century, when a series of defensive positions were built (or rebuilt) during the War of Restoration with Spain.  
 

Check out this rather stunning drone video of a well-known fortification in the French Alps, compliments of contributor and pilot FreD...///.  It's called Miolan's Castle, and it's located in the Savoy region near the Italian border.  Built in the 11th century or earlier, in the 16th century it was converted into a notorious prison.  Its most famous inmate was the Marquis de Sade, who was able to escape from the prison in 1792.  Once compared to the Bastille, it ceased holding prisoners in the 19th century.  

Castel Sant'Elmo is a famous fortress which overlooks the port city of Naples, Italy.  Seen from above in this drone video by dronemagic, it's situated atop Vomero Hill, just west of the Naples city center.  The fortification originally dates to the 13th century.   Heavily damaged by an earthquake in 1456, the structure was rebuilt as its present star configuration during the 16th century, when much of southern Italy was under the Crown of Aragon.  It later served as a prison, it continued to be a military property until the 1970's.  

Ireland is home to a uniquely large concentration of old fortress ruins, which are spread throughout the country.  The most common are circular fortifications known as ring forts.  These were primarily constructed during the Bronze Age, which stretched from roughly 3300 to 1200 BC (ring forts can also be found in England, Wales, and parts of Scandinavia, but less frequently).  In this drone video by top contributor Drone photography ireland, you'll get an aerial tour of some Irish ring forts as well as forts from later periods.     

Contributor dronextravelxearth used a DJI Mavic Air drone to create this beautiful aerial video of two important fortifications in Italy's Verona province, part of its Veneto region.  The Castello di Montorio castle is a medieval castle located northeast of the city of Verona.  In the 19th century, the castle was armed with heavy artillery and became a defensive fortification for the provincial capital.  Nearby Forte Preara, which was built nearby in the 19th century, served a similar defensive purpose.  

Situated on some of the world's most fought-over lands, it's perhaps not surprising that Pakistan is home to some of its most famous fortresses.  In this drone video by contributor nayyar2006, you'll take an aerial tour of some of the country's most well-known fortifications, including Derawar Fort (at the :51 mark), Naukot Fort (1:20), and Fort Ahmadabad (1:31).  The video concludes with extended tours of two of Pakistan's most famous forts: Rohtas Fort in Punjab, and the Ranikot Fort (considered the world's largest) in Sindh.