Bent entrance

Its purpose is to slow down attackers attempting to rush the gate and impede the use of battering rams against doors.

It is often combined with means for an active defence, such as machicolations, in effect confining intruders to a narrow killing zone.

For instance, in the ruined Hospitaller castle at Belvoir, posterns open into the moat at the angle between the outer wall and the corner towers.

See for example the long gate passage at Harlech Castle, which uses multiple doors and murder-holes, but no turns.

Cathcart King has argued that the indirect entrance was less widespread in Europe than in the Crusader states because transport in Europe tended to be based on carts pulled by draft animals, which makes negotiating a twisting passage impractical, whereas camels, as used in the East, would have less difficulty.