citadel

noun

1. A strong fortress that sits high above a city.

   “In the city’s midst the gleaming marble of a thousand steps climbed to the citadel where arose four pinnacles beckoning to heaven, and midmost between the pinnacles there stood the dome, vast, as the gods had dreamed it.”

2. (figuratively, sometimes)A stronghold or fortified place.

   “Intrenched within the citadel of our apartment, and cheered by the comfortings of a coal fire, we passed the day in letter-writing, conversation, or gazing from the sheltered security of our windows upon the agitated sea[…]”

3. An armoured portion of a warship, housing important equipment.

   “Twenty-two of these — eleven per broadside — were on the main deck within a central citadel, essentially an armor-protected box in the middle of the ship. Also within the citadel were four 110-pdr. breech-loaders.”

4. A Salvation Army meeting place.