"...wall upon wall, battlement upon battlement, black,
immeasurably strong, mountain of iron, gate of steel, tower of
adamant... Barad-dûr, fortress of Sauron The Fellowship of the
Ring II 10 The Breaking of the Fellowship The mighty shadow-
shrouded stronghold of Sauron in the Second and Third Ages. The
First Building of Barad-dûr The first building of Barad-dûr,
when Sauron first came to Mordor, took six hundred years to
complete. Soon after, Tar-Minastir of Númenor sent a fleet to
Middle-earth, and Sauron's forces were driven out of the western
lands that they had roamed at will to that time. Barad-dûr could
not be approached by the Númenóreans, however, and Sauron was
able to consolidate his power and extend it into the east. In II
3262, Sauron left his Dark Tower to travel to Númenor with the
vast forces of Ar-Pharazôn; he returned after the Downfall of
Númenor in II 3319. The Last Alliance besieged Barad-dûr in II
3434, and the Tower was taken and destroyed by the forces of
Elendil and Gil-galad, who bot