Minas Tirith and Minas Morgul: twin cities?

[Gordis]

TWIN cities Minas Ithil and Minas Anor were built sometime after SA 3320:

As you know, that city was once a strong place, proud and fair, Minas Ithil, the twin sister of our own city.- LOTR, Book IV, Ch.6

What common features did Minas Morgul and Minas Ithil still share by the time of the War of the Ring?
What was added to each fortress and at what time? Could they still be considered twins?

Here are my thoughts on the subject.

Description of Minas Ithil:

Tales out of the South,' Gollum went on again, `about the tall Men with the shining eyes, and their houses like hills of stone, and the silver crown of their King and his White Tree: wonderful tales. They built very tall towers, and one they raised was silver-white, and in it there was a stone like the Moon, and round it were great white walls. O yes, there were many tales about the Tower of the Moon.'

Description of Minas Morgul:

A long-tilted valley, a deep gulf of shadow, ran back far into the mountains. Upon the further side, some way within the valley's arms high on a rocky seat upon the black knees of the Ephel Dúath, stood the walls and tower of Minas Morgul. All was dark about it, earth and sky, but it was lit with light. Not the imprisoned moonlight welling through the marble walls of Minas Ithil long ago, Tower of the Moon, fair and radiant in the hollow of the hills. Paler indeed than the moon ailing in some slow eclipse was the light of it now, wavering and blowing like a noisome exhalation of decay, a corpse-light, a light that illuminated nothing. In the walls and tower windows showed, like countless black holes looking inward into emptiness; but the topmost course of the tower revolved slowly, first one way and then another, a huge ghostly head leering into the night.
So they came slowly to the white bridge. Here the road, gleaming faintly, passed over the stream in the midst of the valley, and went on, winding deviously up towards the city's gate: a black mouth opening in the outer circle of the northward walls. [...] Across the narrow valley, now almost on a level with his eyes, the walls of the evil city stood, and its cavernous gate, shaped like an open mouth with gleaming teeth, was gaping wide..

So, Minas Morgul, still had the same tower built by Isildur (that is my impression from the quote above), with the addition of the revolving topmost course of the tower (made by the nazgul). Minas Morgul had several encircling walls. Note that the road leading to the Gates was "winding deviously up" The gate "with gleaming teeth" seems a later addition, from the times of the Ringwraiths.

Now let us look at Minas Tirith:

For the fashion of Minas Tirith was such that it was built on seven levels, each delved into the hill, and about each was set a wall, and in each wall was a gate. But the gates were not set in a line: the Great Gate in the City Wall was at the east point of the circuit, but the next faced half south, and the third half north, and so to and fro upwards; so that the paved way that climbed towards the Citadel turned first this way and then that across the face of the hill. [...]The entrance to the Citadel also looked eastward, but was delved in the heart of the rock; thence a long lamp-lit slope ran up to the seventh gate. Thus men reached at last the High Court, and the Place of the Fountain before the feet of the White Tower: tall and shapely, fifty fathoms from its base to the pinnacle, where the banner of the Stewards floated a thousand feet above the plain.

-Tower of Ecthelion
-7 encircling walls
-The road to the gates was not winding, it seems, but further on, beyond the gates it winded its way up, from one level to the next.

I suppose, the original fortresses of Minas Ithil and Minas Anor had only the citadel with the Tower and maybe one-two lower levels encircled by walls.

I think, as Minas Anor/Tirith grew, additional lower levels were progressively added until at last 7 levels were reached. The winding road leading to the Citadel, became enclosed within the walls, and the Great Gate of the outer wall became level with the surrounding fields. Basically the city now occupied all the hill. It seems that the outer wall, of the same material as the tower of Orthanc, was built long after the days of Anarion.

We know from the Tale of Years that the city was rebuilt in TA 420 by King Ostoher, The tower of Anarion was seemingly demolished and built anew in TA 1900 by King Calimehtar, and that tower was rebuilt in TA 2698 by Steward Ecthelion I.

Minas Ithil, because of its tumultuous history, never had so large a population as Minas Anor, so probably it always had only 2-3 levels, while the winding road leading to the Citadel was outside the city walls. Actually Minas Morgul remained closer to the original design than Minas Tirith.

What do you think on it?

Pauline Baynes
Artwork by Pauline Baynes, Tolkien's favorite illustrator and map-maker.
Here they are, side by side, and the fortresses are not unlike each other. I think, though, that Minas Morgul should be even higher up from the bridge. Minas Tirith is OK, but I think that the green lawns between the walls should be filled by houses.