12:21 Jan 11, 2009 

Only putting this here due to lack of space elsewhere. The castle is doubtless on an islet. But this doesn't make "islet" a valid translation of "saliente". And a salient (noun, as opposed to salient, the adjective) doesn't refer to a vertical projection, but a horizontal one - which doesn't mean it can't also stick up ...

Here is a definition of salient (n) - both military and geographical:

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Salient may refer to:

Look up Salient in
Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Peninsula-like salients of political geography and Military Science.
Salient (military), a battlefield feature that projects an attacker's lines into enemy territory in such a way that the attacker is surrounded on three sides.
Salient (geography), part of a discrete territory projecting out of the main portion, bordered by foreign territory on three sides, into which it projects. These are also frequently called panhandles.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salient

23:23 Jan 10, 2009 

I should have said "outward-pointing and not NECESSARILY upward-pointing."

So, although the salient point of a salient is that it is a horizontal angle (outward-pointing), there's nothing to stop it also being raised (upward-pointing) as well. But, if that happened to be the case, this would be beside the point!

23:07 Jan 10, 2009 

Collins: "saliente (mil) = salient" [this bastion/baluarte was presumably built for military purposes...]

According to Chambers English dictionary, a salient (n) is "an outward-pointing angle, esp of a fortification or line of defences.

The fact that this particular one is "rocoso" seems to have rather confused the issue

I first came across this term with the Somme/Meuse battlefields (translating Fr-En), where the salient in question occupied a strategic bend of a river. It seems worth noting that the angle is outward-pointing, and not upward-pointing - which seems to be the general impression here...(?)