Palanka (fortification)

Palanka type forts
Bastions and curtain walls of a palanka fort (dolma rıhtım palanka duvar or simply dolma duvarı)
A simple palanka with its entrance guarded by a watchtower (yalın kat çit palanka)
Both pictures are drawn by Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli

A palanka (Turkish pronunciation: [paˈɫaŋka]), also known as parkan in Southern Hungary and palanga, was a wooden fortification used by the Ottoman Empire extensively in certain regions of Southeast Europe, including Hungary, the Balkans and the Black Sea coast against rival states, especially the Archduchy of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary. Such wooden forts could be built and expanded quickly, and usually contained a small garrison. These fortifications varied in size and shape but were primarily constructed of palisades. Palankas could be adjacent to a town and later they could be replaced by a more formidable stone fortress as in the case of Uyvar. Palankas could also be built as an extension of the main fortress. Many Ottoman forts were a mixture of palanka type fortifications and stonework. Evliya Çelebi describes the word palanka also as a technique of timber masonry.

Some palankas developed into larger settlements and word palanga has been also used to describe rural settlements which originates from palankas in Erzincan, Eastern Anatolia.

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