What medieval architectural feature was typically designed to the disadvantage of right-handed swordsmen?
Stairs remains at a fixed distance from a fixed line whilst moving in a circular motion about it is "helical". The presence or otherwise of a central pole does not affect the terminology applied to the design of the structure. Spiral stairs in medieval times were generally made of stone and typically wound in a clockwise direction (from the ascender's point of view), to place attacking swordsmen (who were most often right-handed) at a disadvantage. This asymmetry forces the right-handed swordsman to engage the central pike and degrade his mobility compared with the defender who is facing down the stairs. Extant
Vimana (architectural feature) Vimana (architectural feature) Vimana is the structure over the garbhagriha or inner sanctum in the Hindu temples of South India and Odisha in East India. In typical temples of Odisha using the Kalinga style of architecture, the Vimana is the tallest structure of the temple, as it is in the shikhara towers of temples in West and North India. By contrast, in large South Indian temples, it is typically smaller than the great gatehouses or gopuram, which are the most immediately striking architectural elements in a temple complex. In North Indian temple architecture texts, the superstructure over the garbhagriha is