Enceinte

Enceinte (from Latin incinctus: girdled, surrounded), is a French term used technically in fortification for the inner ring of fortifications surrounding a town or a concentric castle.

Strictly, the term was applied to the continuous line of bastions and curtain walls forming the body of the place, this last expression being often used as synonymous with enceinte. However, the outworks or defensive wall close to the enceinte were not considered as forming part of it. In early 20th-century fortification, the enceinte was usually simply the innermost continuous line of fortifications.

In architecture, generally, an enceinte is the close or precinct of a cathedral, abbey, castle, etc.