The piazze basse were enclosed by
merloni, revetted earthworks pierced by a casemate and an embrasure, which allowed for enfilading cannon fire from two different angles in protection of the adjacent bastion, the scarp and the ditch.
Soldiers reached the town and the ditch by means of sortite (sally ports), paved vaulted passages built below the ramparts.
The south piazza bassa in the Bethlehem Bastion as viewed from the ditch, 2004 (photograph: Vassilis Kozonakis)
Detail of the piazza bassa in the Bethlehem Bastion, showing a casemate and an embrasure, 2004 (photograph: Vassilis Kozonakis)
