Minas Tirith

Minas Tirith (Tower of the Guard, Sindarin) was a city of Gondor, originally called Minas Anor. From T.A. 1640 onwards it was the capital of the South-kingdom and the seat of its Kings and ruling Stewards.
Minas Tirith was situated on the Hill of Guard – the "out-thrust knee" of Mount Mindolluin, connected to the main mass of the mountain by a narrow 'shoulder'. It facing eastward towards Osgiliath, over the Pelennor Fields surrounding the city, fertile townlands stretching from the walls of the city proper to the Rammas Echor.
The city was built on the hill with seven concentric tiers cut on the hill culminating in the Citadel at the summit. The outer wall was called the City Wall and was black, of the same material used in Orthanc. The City Wall was vulnerable only to earthquakes capable of rending the ground where it stood.
Each of the seven levels stood 100 feet higher than the one below it and was surrounded by a white wall; each wall held a gate, and each gate faced a different direction such that the path up through the levels wound to and fro rather than following a straight line. An outcropping of rock as high as the seventh level bisected all the lower levels except the lowest on the line of the Great Gate. The winding path through the city therefore passed through tunnels in this 'keel' five times.
The First Level included the Rath Celerdain, a white paved street with an inn, the Old Guesthouse.
The Sixth Level contained stables for riders, and the Houses of Healing. There was also Fen Hollen, a door which was almost always closed, leading to Rath Dínen, the 'shoulder' of rock that joined the Hill to the main mass of Mount Mindolluin rose to the level of the fifth wall and was fortified with large ramparts, where the tombs of the Kings of Gondor and their Stewards lay. The uppermost tunnel was delved into the spur of rock that jutted out of the eastern face of the Hill; The keystone of its archway was carved with the head of a crowned King. Guards of the Citadel manned the Seventh Gate which faced eastward in line with the Great Gate 700 feet below and emerged into the Citadel, the city's strongest point, surrounded by high walls and battlements on the 'keel'.
The Citadel housed the Court of the Fountain and the Tower of Ecthelion, which brought the total height of the city to 1000 feet. Before the Tower grew the White Tree in a court. There were also the King's House, lodgings for the Steward, Merethrond, barracks for the Guard of the Citadel, and other buildings for guests and other workers.
Lord: Denethor II
Category:Towns
Category:Capitals