2the citadel of somethingliteraryPLACE a place or situation in which an idea, principle, system etc that you think is important is kept safe 保卫某事物的地方;某事物有保障的地方SYN stronghold
the last citadel of freedom
自由的最后堡垒
Examples from the Corpus
the citadel of something• The U.S. is often seen as the citadel ofcapitalism.• The superbly sitedHellenistictheatres at the citadel of Pergamon and Termessos were only slightly altered in Roman times.• New Zealand became the citadel of the new right.• Deep structural changes will be necessary in developing countries if literacy is to go beyondthe citadels of the elites.• Instead they concentrated all their energies on subduing the rebels' capital, the citadel of St Martial's.• Having emptiedthe citadel ofgold and silver he left Limoges and went off in search of new sources of pay for his mercenaries.• That these people would one day be enthroned in the citadel of power could not have seemed conceivable to him.• In the citadel of St Martial everyone's nerves were on edge.• Look at it, the golden evening, the snowymountains, the citadel of the Alhambra.
Examples from the Corpus
citadel• Outside this was a citadel, fortified like the innerbailey, but containing a greater number of buildings.• Whenever there was fighting around Limoges one permanentcomplicatingfactor was the rivalry between city and citadel.• With your help, and that of the Forteviot men, the maincitadels may still be standing.• Far from being a challenger for power, it could not even hold on to its old citadels.• It seemed that the verderers were going towards the outlaws' citadel, not away from it.• New Zealand became the citadel of the new right.• In the citadel of St Martial everyone's nerves were on edge.
Origincitadel
(1500-1600)Frenchcitadelle, from Old Italiancittadella, from cittade“city”, from Latincivitas; → CITY