List of sieges

A siege is a prolonged military assault and blockade on a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition. What follows is a chronological list of sieges.

Military sieges

Ancient

* Siege of Megiddo (c. 1457 BC)
* Siege of Dapur (c. 1296 BC)
* Siege of Troy (c. 1200 BC)
* Siege of Hermopolis (c. 715 BC)
* Siege of Lachish (c. 715 BC)
* Siege of Jerusalem (701 BC) - the Assyrian siege of Sennacherib
* Siege of Syracuse (415 BC) - the Athenian siege
* Siege of Tyre (332 BC) by Alexander the Great
* Siege of Rhodes (305 BC) by Demetrius Poliorcetes
* Siege of Agrigentum (261 BC) (First Punic War between the Roman Republic and Carthage)
* Siege of Saguntum (218 BC) - "casus belli" for the Second Punic War
* Siege of Syracuse (213–212 BC) - the Roman siege
* Siege of Carthage (149–146 BC) by Scipio Aemilianus Africanus
* Siege of Numantia (134–133 BC) by Scipio Aemilianus Africanus
* Siege of Alesia (52 BC)
* Siege of Jerusalem (70 AD) - the Roman siege of Titus
* Siege of Masada (72 AD)
* Siege of Byzantium (193 AD–196 AD) by Septimius Severus forces.

Medieval

* The First Siege of Constantinople by Avars and Sassanid Persians in 626
* The Siege of Tbilisi (628)
*Siege of Ansi fortress (645)
* The First Arab Siege of Constantinople in 674-678
* The Second Arab Siege of Constantinople in 717-718
*Siege of Pavia (773–774)
*Siege of Constantinople (860)
*Siege of Syracuse (878)
*Siege of Paris (885–886)
*Siege of Kiev (968)
*Siege of Dorostolon (971)
*Siege of Graus (Spring 1063)
*Siege of Nicaea (1097) - part of the First Crusade
*Siege of Antioch (1097–1098) - part of the "First Crusade"
*Siege of Capua (1098)
*Siege of Jerusalem (1099) - part of the "First Crusade"
*Siege of Edessa (1144)
*Siege of Lisbon (1147)
*Siege of Damascus (1148)
*Siege of Sanjō Palace (1160) - the main action of the Heiji Rebellion took place in Kyoto
*Siege of Nara (1180) - during Genpei War
*Siege of Jerusalem (1187)
*Siege of Acre (1189)
*Siege of Zara (1202) - part of the Fourth Crusade
*Siege of Constantinople (1204) - part of the "Fourth Crusade"
*Siege of Beijing (1215) - Genghis Khan conquers Beijing
*Siege of Bilär (1236) - Batu Khan conquers the city of Bilär.
*Siege of Kiev (1240) - Mongol conquest of Kiev.
*Siege of Xiangyang (1267-1273) - Mongol conquest of the city of Xiangyang in the invasion of the Southern Song.
* Siege of Gibraltar (1309) - first siege of Gibraltar, by Juan Alfonso de Guzman "el Bueno" in the Reconquista
* Siege of Gibraltar (1316) - second siege of Gibraltar, by the Nasrid caid Yahya in the "Reconquista"
* Siege of Nicaea (1328-1331) - part of the Byzantine-Ottoman wars
*Siege of Kamakura (1333) - end of Ashikaga shogunate.
* Siege of Gibraltar (1333) - third siege of Gibraltar, by a Marinids army, lead by Abd al-Malik in the "Reconquista"
* Siege of Gibraltar (1333) - fourth siege of Gibraltar, by King Alfonso XI of Castile in the "Reconquista"
*Siege of Nicomedia - part of the "Byzantine-Ottoman wars"
*Siege of Caffa (1346)
*Siege of Calais (1346–1347) - Hundred Years' War
* Siege of Gibraltar (1349–1350) - fifth siege of Gibraltar, by "Alfonso XI" in the "Reconquista"
* Siege of Gibraltar (1374) - sixth siege of Gibraltar, by the Nasrid in the "Reconquista"
* Siege of Maastricht (1407)
* Siege of Marienburg (1410) - in the aftermath of the Battle of Grunwald
* Siege of Rouen (1418) - reopening of the Hundred Years War
* Siege of Constantinople (1422) - first siege of Constantinople, by the Murad II
*Siege of Orleans (1429)
* Siege of Gibraltar (1436) - seventh siege of Gibraltar, by the count of Niebla in the "Reconquista"
*Siege of Constantinople (1453) - second siege of Constantinople by the Mehmed II

Early modern

* Siege of Belgrade (1456) - part of Ottoman wars in Europe
* Siege of Gibraltar (1462) - eighth siege of Gibraltar, by a Castilian army in the "Reconquista"
* Siege of Harlech Castle (1461- 1468) - part of Wars of the Roses. Longest siege in British history.
* Siege of Gibraltar (1467) - ninth siege of Gibraltar, by the Duke of Medina Sidonia
* Siege of Rhodes (1480) - first siege of Rhodes
* Siege of Gibraltar (1506) - tenth siege of Gibraltar, by the "Duke of Medina Sidonia"
* Siege of Smolensk (1514)
* Siege of Tenochtitlan (1521)
* Siege of Rhodes (1522) - second siege of Rhodes
* Siege of Vienna (1529) - first siege of Vienna
* Siege of Beijing (1550)
* Siege of Eger (1552) - part of Ottoman-Habsburg wars
* Siege of Kazan (1552) - part of Russo-Kazan wars
* Siege of Leith (1560)
* Siege of Malta (1565)
* Siege of Szigetvár (1566) - Ottoman siege during which Suleiman the Magnificent died
* Turkish siege of Nicosia, Cyprus (1570)
* Turkish siege of Famagusta, Cyprus (1570–1571)
* Siege of Ishiyama Honganji (1570–1580) - longest siege in Japanese history
* Siege of Moscow (1571) - part of Russo-Crimean Wars
* Sieges of Nagashima (1571, 1573, 1574)
* Siege of Haarlem (1572)
* Siege of Nagashino (1575)
* Siege of Pskov (1581–1582)
* Siege of Ypres (1584)
* Siege of Ghent (1584)
* Siege of Bruges (1584)
* Siege of Brussels (1584)
* Siege of Antwerp (1584–1585)
* Siege of Odawara (1590)
* Siege of Jinju (1592)
* Siege of Kinsale (1601–1602)
* Siege of Ostend (1601–1604)
* Siege of Smolensk - (1609–1611) - 20 months
* Siege of Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra (1609-1611) - 16 months
* Siege of Osaka (1614–1615)
* Siege of Breda (1624–1625)
* Siege of La Rochelle (1627–1628)
* Siege of Nuremberg (1632), Thirty Years' War
* Siege of Hara fortress (1637–1638)
* Siege of Azov (1637–1642) - part of Russo-Turkish Wars
* Siege of Candia (Crete) (1648–1669) - possibly the longest siege in history
* Siege of Drogheda (1649) -Cromwellian conquest of Ireland
* Siege of Wexford (1649)
* Siege of Waterford (1649–1650)
* Siege of Clonmel (1650)
* Cromwell's Siege of Limerick City, Ireland (1651)
* Siege of Galway (1652)
* Siege of Jasna Góra (1656) - during The Deluge
* Siege of Riga (1656) - in the Russo-Swedish War of 1656-1658
* Siege of Copenhagen (1658–1659)
* Siege of Lille (1667)
* Siege of Solovetsky Monastery (1668–1676) - eight years
* Siege of Groningen (1672)
* Siege of Maastricht (1673)
* Siege of Vienna (1683) - second siege of Vienna
* Siege of Derry (1689)
* Siege of Québec City (1690) - first siege of Québec City
* Siege of Athlone (1691)
* Williamite Siege of Limerick City, Ireland (1690–1691)
* Siege of Gibraltar (1704) - eleventh siege of Gibraltar, by Sir George Rooke's Anglo-Dutch fleet
* Siege of Gibraltar (1704–1705) - twelfth siege of Gibraltar, by a Spanish-French army)
* Siege of Turin (1706)
* Siege of Lille (1708)
* Siege of Barcelona (1714) - during the War of the Spanish Succession
* Siege of Gibraltar (1727) - thirteenth siege of Gibraltar, by a Spanish army
* Siege of Danzig (1734)
* Siege of Cartagena of Indies (1741) - by Edward Vernon in the War of Jenkins' Ear
* Siege of Olomouc (1758) - by Frederick the Great in the Seven Years' War
* Siege of Québec City (1759) - second siege of Québec City
* Siege of Kolberg (1761)
* Siege of Havana (1762) British fleet headed by George Keppel, 3rd Earl of Albemarle lays siege to Spanish controlled Havana for a month.
* Siege of Boston (1775–1776)
* Siege of Gibraltar (1779–1783) - fourteenth siege of Gibraltar, by a Spanish-French army in the American Revolutionary War
* Siege of Yorktown (1781)
* Siege of Mantua (1796–1797)
* Siege of Seringapatam (1799)

Modern

*First and Second sieges of Saragossa (1808–1809) - Peninsular War
* Siege of Gerona (1809) - Peninsular War
* Siege of Ciudad Rodrigo (1810) - Peninsular War
* Siege of Badajoz (1812) - Peninsular War
* First, Second and Third Sieges of Missolonghi (1822, 1823, 1825—1826)
* Siege of the Alamo (1836)
* Siege of Veracruz (1847) - First U.S. amphibious landing
* Siege of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (1854)
* Siege of Taganrog (1855) - Crimean War
* Siege of Kars (1855) - Crimean War
* Siege of Sevastopol (1854-1855) - Crimean War
* Siege of Cawnpore (1857) - The Indian Mutiny
* Siege of Lucknow (1857) - The Indian Mutiny
* Siege of Medina Fort (1857) - Toucouleurs besiege French for 97 days
* Siege of Fort Sumter (1861)Beginning of the Civil War, by Confederates, but was also later besieged later in the War by Union soldiers.
* Siege of Vicksburg (1863) — Union army besieged a Confederate city in the American Civil War.
* Siege of Port Hudson (1863) - Union Army surrounded Confederate river stronghold for 48 days.
* Siege of Petersburg (1864—1865)
* Siege of Hakodate (1869)
* Siege of Paris and the Paris Commune (1870–1871)
* Siege of Cartagena (1873–1874)
* Siege of Pleven (1877–1878) - Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)
* Siege of Khartoum (1884–1885)
* Siege of Mafeking (1899–1900) - Second Boer War
* Siege of Kimberley (1899–1900) - Second Boer War
* Siege of Ladysmith (1899–1900) - Second Boer War
* Siege of Port Arthur (1904–1905)
* Siege of Antwerp (1914) - World War I
* Siege of Maubeuge (1914) - World War I
* Siege of Alcazar (1936) - Second Spanish Republic militias besieged the Alcazar of Toledo in the Spanish Civil War
* Siege of Gijon (1936) - Spanish Civil War
* Siege of Madrid (1936—1939) - Spanish Civil War
* Siege of Malta (1940–1943) - World War II
* Siege of Tobruk (1941) - World War II
* Siege of Odessa (1941) - World War II
* Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942) - World War II
* Siege of Leningrad (1941–1944) - also known as the 900-Day Siege, probably the most gruesome in history, World War II.
* Siege of Stalingrad (1942–1943) - World War II
* Siege of Budapest (1944 - 1945)
* Siege of Breslau (1945) - World War II
* Siege of Jerusalem (1947–1948) - 1948 Arab-Israeli War - Palestinian Arabs laid siege to the Jewish quarters of Jerusalem, but were driven back. Siege was resumed in May by regular Jordanian and Egyptian forces. Ended in armistice.
* Berlin blockade (1948-1949) - No military action, but the tactic to starve a city by cutting her supply lines is a feature of a siege. The famous Berlin Air Lift supplied the city with food, coal, medical supplies and other goods for nearly a year.
* Siege of Dien Bien Phu (1954) - Vietnamese Viet Minh forces besieged French forces, effecting a final defeat on France's colonial occupation.
* Siege of Erenköy (1964) - Turkish Cypriots holding out against attacking Greek and Greek Cypriot forces.
* Siege of Beirut (1982)
* Siege of Vukovar (1991) - Croatian War of Independence
* Siege of Dubrovnik (1991–1992) - Croatian War of Independence
* Siege of Sarajevo (1992–1996) - Bosnian War
* Siege of Monrovia (2003) - Second Liberian Civil War
* CIMIC-House (2006) - Iraq War
* Siege of Nahr el-Bared (2007) - Lebanon
* Lal Masjid siege (2007) - Pakistan

Fictional

* Battle of the Hornburg (The Lord of the Rings:The Two Towers)
* Battle of the Pelennor Fields (The Lord of the Rings:The Return of the King)
* Battle of Tyrsis (The Sword of Shannara)

Police sieges

* Sidney Street Siege (1911)
* Attica Siege (1971)
* Munich Olympic Massacre (1972)
* Wounded Knee Siege (1973)
* Norrmalmstorg robbery (1973) famous for the Stockholm syndrome
* Spaghetti House Siege (1975)
* Balcombe Street Siege (1975)
* MOVE Siege (1978)
* Iranian Embassy Siege (1980)
* Ruby Ridge Siege (1992)
* Waco Siege (1993)
* Montana Freemen Siege (1996)
* Japanese embassy hostage crisis (1996–1997)
* Republic of Texas Embassy Siege (1997)
* Moscow theater hostage crisis (2002)
* Beslan hostage crisis (2004)