Editing Defensive wall (section)

===Europe===
{{Unreferenced section|date=October 2022}}
[[File:Avila - Murallas, Paseo de la Ronda Vieja 02.JPG|thumb|The medieval [[Walls of Ávila|Walls of Avila]] ([[Spain]]) are one of Europe's best preserved walls.]]
In [[ancient Greece]], large [[stone wall]]s had been built in [[Mycenaean Greece]], such as the ancient site of [[Mycenae]] (famous for the huge stone blocks of its '[[cyclopean]]' walls). In classical era Greece, the city of [[Athens]] built a long set of parallel stone walls called the [[Long Walls]] that reached their guarded seaport at [[Piraeus]]. Exceptions were few, but neither ancient [[Sparta]] nor ancient [[Rome]] had walls for a long time, choosing to rely on their militaries for defense instead. Initially, these fortifications were simple constructions of wood and earth, which were later replaced by mixed constructions of stones piled on top of each other without [[Mortar (masonry)|mortar]].

The [[ancient Rome|Romans]] later fortified their cities with massive, mortar-bound stone walls. Among these are the largely extant [[Aurelian Walls]] of [[Rome]] and the [[Theodosian Walls]] of [[Constantinople]], together with partial remains elsewhere. These are mostly city gates, like the [[Porta Nigra]] in [[Trier]] or [[Newport Arch]] in [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]].

In Central Europe, the [[Celts]] built large fortified settlements which the Romans called [[oppidum|oppida]], whose walls seem partially influenced by those built in the Mediterranean. The [[fortifications]] were continuously expanded and improved.

Apart from these, the early [[Middle Ages]] also saw the creation of some towns built around castles. These cities were only rarely protected by simple stone walls and more usually by a combination of both walls and [[ditch (fortification)|ditches]]. From the 12th century AD hundreds of settlements of all sizes were founded all across Europe, which very often obtained the right of fortification soon afterwards. Several medieval town walls have survived into the modern age, such as the [[Austrian walled towns|walled towns of Austria]], [[walls of Tallinn]], or the town walls of [[York city walls|York]] and [[Canterbury city walls|Canterbury]] in England, as well as [[Nördlingen|Nordlingen]], [[Dinkelsbühl]] and [[Rothenburg ob der Tauber]] in Germany. In Spain, [[Walls of Ávila|Ávila]] and [[Tossa de Mar|Tossa del Mar]] hosts surviving medieval walls while [[Lugo]] has an intact Roman wall.

The founding of urban centers was an important means of territorial expansion and many cities, especially in central and eastern Europe, were founded for this purpose during the period of [[History of German settlement in Central and Eastern Europe|Eastern settlement]]. These cities are easy to recognise due to their regular layout and large market spaces. The fortifications of these settlements were continuously improved to reflect the current level of military development.