Barad-dûr

The Barad-dûr, also known as the Dark Fortress, was a 4593-foot (1400 meters) tower built on the Plateau of Gorgoroth in Northwestern Mordor. During the Second and Third Ages, it served as the central base of operations for Dark Lord Sauron in Middle-earth.​

Barad-dûr was the most magnificent fortress in Middle-earth during the Second Age. It was, however, destroyed when Dark Lord Sauron lost in the War of the Last Alliance. In the Third Age, Sauron sanctioned the rebuilding of the tower. Since the structure was held together by the One Ring's dark magic, it was destroyed forever after the destruction of the Ring.​

The Dark Tower was built on the end of the southwestern offshoot of the Ash Mountains, a range that started at the Black Gate of Mordor and ran eastward. It rose above the plains of Gorgoroth and stood on the southeastern side of Udûn. The eastern entrance if the tower had a road that went north and then west to Isenmouthe. A second route, known as Sauron's road, ran from the west gate of Barad-dûr, through the plains of Gorgoroth, and ended in the 'Chambers of Fire' in Mount Doom. According to estimates, the mountain was not farther than 10 miles from the Dark Tower.​

Sauron constructed Barad-dûr in Mordor, near the volcanic mountain called Mount Doom. The construction began in the year SA 1000 and went on for six hundred years. This made the tower the greatest of its kind since the fall of Angband in the War of Wrath. During the Second Age, the Last Alliance of Elves and Men captured the Barad-dûr for seven years. It was eventually destroyed after Sauron lost the war to Isildur.

However, the tower's foundation could not be removed since the One Ring was still intact. As a result, Sauron reconstructed the fortress when he returned to Mordor thousands of years later. In the Third Age, between TA 3008 and TA 3017, Gollum was captured and imprisoned in Barad-dûr. Back then, Aragorn and Gandalf were also after the creature. Sauron used torture to find out the location of the One Ring after discovering that Gollum had once possessed it.

After finding the Ring, Sauron no longer had a reason to hold Gollum and ordered its release in TA 3017. The tower was permanently leveled down after Frodo Baggins destroyed the One Ring with help from the Gollum. The fortress could not stand without the Ring's power to hold it together. Thus, when the Ring was thrown into the volcanic fires of Mount Doom, Barad-dûr collapsed and has never been rebuilt since.​

According to The Two Towers, the second book in J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Barad-dûr was a vast fortress and a furnace of high power. The description also adds that the structure had immense strength. Also, some of its towers were hidden in the clouds above it. Because Sauron made shadows of himself to creep out of the fortress, it could not be seen clearly. The west gate of Barad-dûr is depicted as massive, and the west bridge was a vast, iron bridge. It was the link between the fortress and Mount Doom.​

In the Fellowship of the Ring, J. R. R. Tolkien described the Dark Tower as black, made of iron, and having battlements and gates. The painting of the structure showed that its walls were made of bricks and grey stone. However, the battlements, gates, and towers are not visible. There is a door on the eastern side of the fort, and Mount Doom is on the opposite side.​

Barad-dûr appears a few times in this movie made by Topcraft and Rankin/Bass. It is shown as a fortress built on the side of a mountain. Instead of being a part of the tower, the Eye of Sauron appears in the skies of Mordor. [1]​

Richard Taylor and his designers built a 25-foot depiction of Barad-dûr for use in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. In the movie itself, the tower measures 5000 feet tall and has the Eye of Sauron at its top. In the first film in the series (The Fellowship of the Ring), Barad-dûr is seen in its entirety through Frodo Baggins' vision when he is at Amon Hen. During the final battle in The Lord of the Rings: At the Black Gate, The Return of the King Barad-dûr is seen to be nearer than Tolkien describes it.​

Although it is not a playable location in Middle-earth: Shadow of War, the Dark Tower can be seen in the region of Gorgoroth. It has a similar appearance to its depiction in The Lord of the Rings films, though it is still under construction in the game. [2]​