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 "How happy are those whose walls already rise!"
– Virgil

Masonry is a technology in Civilization V.

Game Info[]

Masonry is the art of building massive stone structures, and working with stone in general. It allows you to build Walls, which greatly improve the defense of cities. It also allows Workers to construct Quarries (which allow access to Stone Stone and Marble Marble resources) and clear Marshes, allowing other improvements to be constructed on that tile.

Civilopedia entry[]

Masonry is the construction of structures from individual blocks bound together by some kind of mortar. The blocks may be made of stone, concrete, cinder, or they may be clay bricks. The mortar is some kind of workable paste that dries into an extremely durable material. It is usually composed of a mixture of sand, cement or lime, and water.

The ancient Egyptians mastered the art of masonry as early as the fourth millennium BC, constructing their temples, palaces and pyramids from the large veins of limestone, sandstone, granite and basalt found in the hills of the Nile River. The ancient Assyrians of the Fertile Crescent lacked such easy access to stone but possessed rich deposits of clay, which they sun-dried into bricks. Since sun-dried bricks can be vulnerable to moisture, they often covered their structures with more water-resistant kiln-baked or glazed tiles.

The ancient Romans invented concrete, which was a far superior mortar to that used by earlier civilizations (usually clay-based), and which could be used as a construction material in itself. This so-called "concrete revolution" allowed the Romans to construct buildings that were impossible using more primitive materials. In the 19th century a Parisian gardener thought to imbed iron mesh into his concrete tubs and pots; his invention of reinforced concrete greatly increased the "tensile strength" of the material, making it more suitable for tall structures that might be subject to stress from wind, vibration, or even earthquakes. More recent innovations have greatly increased the strength and flexibility of this most useful of all construction materials. And though many modern buildings are constructed of glass and steel, they all rest upon foundations built using the ancient construction techniques of masonry.

See also[]

Civilization V Technologies [edit]
Ancient Agriculture Animal Husbandry Archery Bronze Working Calendar Masonry Mining Pottery Sailing The Wheel Trapping Writing
Classical Construction Currency Drama and Poetry Engineering Horseback Riding Iron Working Mathematics Optics Philosophy
Medieval Chivalry Civil Service Compass Education Guilds Machinery Metal Casting Physics Steel Theology
Renaissance Acoustics Architecture Astronomy Banking Chemistry Economics Gunpowder Metallurgy Navigation Printing Press
Industrial Archaeology Biology Dynamite Electricity Fertilizer Industrialization Military Science Rifling Scientific Theory Steam Power Telegraph1
Modern Ballistics Combustion Electronics Flight Mass Media1 Plastics Radio Railroad Refrigeration Replaceable Parts
Atomic2 Atomic Theory Combined Arms Computers Ecology Nuclear Fission Penicillin Radar Rocketry
Information2 Advanced Ballistics Future Tech Globalization Lasers Mobile Tactics Nanotechnology Nuclear Fusion Particle Physics Robotics Satellites Stealth Telecommunications The Internet
Сut Calculus3 Patronage3 Publishing3
1 Vanilla only 2 Atomic and Information eras are Future Era in Vanilla 3 Сut from the game
Added in the Gods & Kings expansion pack.
Added in the Brave New World expansion pack.