I arrived in Gibraltar aboard the Crown Princess Grand-class cruise ship. It was returning from Corsica back to Britain. Gibraltar, a U.K. overseas territory on the south coast of Spain, was the final stop on the way back. On a sunny morning in May, I disembarked from the ship along the Western Arm in northern Gibraltar.

Then the Rock of Gibraltar, in all its glory, came into view. The Rock rises some 426 meters above the sea. As such, it’s almost a small mountain! Even though it’s a limestone rock, the Rock of Gibraltar is very green. The Rock has lots of vegetation and an abundance of wildlife. On its higher levels there is the Upper Rock Nature Reserve, which includes various migrating birds and the famed Gibraltar Barbary macaques.

After disembarking from the ship, I strolled through a cruise terminal building en route to the North Mole. Within the terminal building there was a sculpture of the magnificent rock. Thereafter, I arrived at the North Mole where a line of taxi vans had parked. As the taxis were providing short tours I boarded one as an alternative to climbing the Rock via the cable cars which link to the Signal Hill near its summit. They rise some 387 meters to the Water Catchment Area which provides various vantage points from the Rock.

Soon after getting in the taxi, it began the ascent up the Rock after passing through Gibraltar. The taxi van clambered up the somewhat narrow Rock of Gibraltar lanes. It stopped at the Pillar of Hercules. That’s a monument that flanks the Strait of Gibraltar which is the gateway to the Mediterranean.

St. Michael’s Cave

After a brief stop the taxi continued the climb up the Rock of Gibraltar. The next stop was St Michael’s Cave. These are a network of limestone caves located in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve.

When the taxi stopped, I was some 300 meters above sea level. Upon vacating the taxi, a few of the Rock’s Barbary macaques surrounded the entrance to the cave. Gibraltar is the only destination in Europe where you will find any Barbary macaques.

I went inside St Michael’s Cave. It’s a very finely preserved, and colourfully lit, cave with plenty of stalactites hanging from the ceiling. After entering I strolled down to the cave’s auditorium stage. With a number of plastic chairs at the higher level of the chamber this cave has been a venue for various concerts.

After leaving the cave, I returned to the taxi. We continued up the Rock and stopped somewhere close to the summit. I was probably some 350 – 400 meters up. When close to the summit of the Rock the coast of Africa is visible on a clear day.

The Great Siege Tunnels

The tour continued towards the northern side of the Rock. It was there that we reached the Great Siege Tunnels which I briefly walked through. Their entrances are located at a point of the rock that overlooks Gibraltar’s airstrip close to the border.

Given Gibraltar’s position as the gateway to the Mediterranean it was a notable strategic outpost of the British Empire, and today a Royal Navy base is still located there. As such, the British dug a network of military tunnels through the Rock during the Great Siege of Gibraltar to ensure that it remained a part of their empire. The tunnels provided cover for Gibraltar’s defenders from both naval and air bombardments. The Spanish and French never did take it, and today you can go inside the tunnels which include small windows and artillery pieces.

Grand Casemates Square

The tunnels were the last stopping point of the tour before the taxi left the Rock. We bypassed the Moorish Castle located along the north-west of the Rock. The taxi returned to Grand Casemates Square, the largest of two main squares within the city centre of Gibraltar. This square is at the northern end of Gibraltar’s Main Street. At the northern end of the square there is a bomb-proof barracks.

Here you may as well be back in England. Gibraltar is, after all, U.K. territory. Consequently, there is no requirement for Euros; and all of Gibraltar is in English! Pubs align the square which is a gateway to Gibraltar’s town centre. Further down the Main Street you can find NatWest and Barclay branches, and at the end you can board the cable cars located beside La Alameda Gardens. Those are six hectare botanical gardens.

When at the square I stopped off at the Gibraltar Glass Museum. It is here that a variety of glass is crafted by glass blowing. In the museum glass blowers craft the glass for visitors. There are also plenty of glass Rock of Gibraltars included at the museum.

Gibraltar Beaches

Although I never found them, Gibraltar also has a few beaches along its coastline. Not far off the North Front Airfield there is the Eastern Beach. Further south there are the sandy Governor’s Beach and Windhill Beach. In total there are six beaches along its eastern coastline, of which the Eastern Beach is the longest.

After a stroll down the Main Street, I returned to the ferry terminal to board the ship. The climb up the Rock of Gibraltar had provided some dazzling views of the Bay of Gibraltar and beyond. If visiting Spain this is one destination not to miss.

Full-day Gibraltar Tour from Seville with Rock of Gibraltar, St. Michael´s Cave

If You Go:

♦ Gibraltar Beaches
♦ Visit Gibraltar
♦ Info Centre
♦ La Alameda Gardens
♦ St Michael’s Cave

Gibraltar and Vejer Private Day Trip from Málaga

Photo credits:
Top Gibraltar Eastern Beach by Gibmetal77 / CC BY-SA
All other photos by Matthew Adams:
The summit of the Rock of Gibraltar
A Barbary macaque
The Crown Prince cruise ship

About the author:
Matthew Adams is a freelancer that has produced a variety of articles for various publications and websites such as Swing Golf Magazine,TripAdvisor, Captured Snapshot, Coed Magazine the Washington Post and Vagabundo Travel. Matthew also has his own golf blog at: amateurgolfer.blogspot.co.uk/.

by Tristan Cano

A jagged monolith protruding awkwardly from the arid Andalucian landscape, the Rock of Gibraltar is no larger than the mountains in its close proximity, yet it proudly dominates its surroundings with all the majesty you would expect from so famous a landmark. Gibraltar is visited by millions of tourists each year; many to enjoy the sea and the sunshine, whilst others demand something a little different from their visit to the former British colony. Getting to grips with the history of its turbulent past provides an excellent backdrop from which to enjoy the many sights and attractions which lend themselves to Gibraltar’s present.

The history of human settlement in Gibraltar can be traced back tens of thousand of years to the Stone Age when it was thought that Gibraltar was one of the last sites of regular occupation for Neanderthal man. The so-called ‘Gibraltar Skull’ which was blasted out of a quarry on the Rock’s north face in 1848 was actually discovered eight years prior to the remains found in Germany’s Neander Valley. A replica of the Gibraltar Skull as well as prehistoric tools and ornaments excavated from the Rock’s caves are on display at the Gibraltar Museum. Control of this Mediterranean fortress has passed through many hands, with the Phoenicians, Carthaginians and Romans among those who visited the Rock before its Moorish conquest in 711 AD. The initial incursion into Europe was led by a Berber general named Tariq ibn-Ziyad and it was after him (Jabal Tariq meaning literally Mountain of Tariq) that the rock known by the Romans as Mons Calpe took its eventual name.

The Moors enjoyed Gibraltar’s strategic importance for over 750 years and there is still plenty of evidence of their time on the Rock. The most prominent remnant is the Moorish Castle whose Tower of Homage overlooks the isthmus on the north-west side of the Rock and is undoubtedly one of Gibraltar’s most well-known landmarks. The precise origins of the ‘Castle’ are not known, but work on the original structure was said to have been completed by Tariq himself in 742 which would make it the first Moorish fortification ever constructed on European soil. Work on the present structure is not thought to have begun until the 11th Century with much having been constructed much later, circa the early 14th Century.

The Tower of Homage marks the Castle’s highest point and adjacent to this are the Inner and Outer Keeps followed by the Quasbah, which houses the important Gate House considered by historians to be the oldest man-made structure in Gibraltar. The entire Castle complex would have originally extended through the Villa Vieja to the site of the original Moorish dockyard at La Barcina, roughly where Casemates Gate now stands. Many of the original fortifying gates and walls still remain and part of the foundations of the Galley House is on display at Casemates Square. The Medieval baths located in the basement of the Gibraltar Museum are another prominent relic of Moorish Gibraltar. The baths which operated by way of an underground network of canals circulating hot air, once formed part of the Merinid Governor of Gibraltar’s palace and are some of the most well preserved examples of their kind in Europe.

The Moors’ 700 year occupation of the Rock ended when Gibraltar was ceded to Castilian forces in 1462. Much of the original Moorish architecture was destroyed and built upon during the subsequent years of Castilian/Spanish rule, a job which was ably completed by the British from 1704 onwards. A perfect example of this is the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St Mary the Crowned which was built by order of Queen Isabella on the site of Gibraltar’s main Mosque. The Cathedral, having been rebuilt or extensively altered on a number of occasions presents a curious blend of British and Spanish architecture, however the small courtyard is the one remaining vestige of the Mosque’s original court.

The most notable Spanish addition is Charles V Wall which stands at the southern end of Main Street adjacent to the Trafalgar Cemetery. The wall, which dates back to 1550 and was originally built to keep out Barbary pirates, was recently refurbished and offers an alternative walking route from the area known as the Apes Den to the summit of the Rock. Many of Gibraltar’s defences were destroyed during attacks on the Rock following its capture by an Anglo-Dutch force in 1704. During the Great Siege of Gibraltar (1779–1883), the British Garrison survived an almost complete blockade of supplies and numerous assaults destroying much of the city, including the Cathedral. The Great Siege Tunnels which were instrumental in the British defence of the Rock are now a fully-accessible tourist attraction and are complemented in the Upper Rock by a City Under Siege exhibition which gives a fascinating insight into life in Gibraltar during the early years of British occupation.

In 1805, following the Battle of Trafalgar, HMS Victory was towed to Gibraltar with the body of Admiral Nelson onboard, famously preserved in a casket of rum. The series of batteries known as Parson’s Lodge which stand on a limestone shelf above Rosia Bay are often overlooked by visitors to the Rock but are a must-see attraction, particularly for military enthusiasts seeking a unique view of what was Nelson’s anchorage. The Trafalgar Cemetery adjacent to Charles V Wall by Southport Gate contains the remains of military personnel who died in Trafalgar and other nearby naval battles. The cemetery itself is a peaceful spot which provides a refreshing sanctuary from the commotions of Gibraltar’s busy city centre.

The Upper Rock is undoubtedly the best place to explore the many abandoned buildings and gun installations which represent Gibraltar’s more recent military history. Few are better preserved than the 9.2 inch MK10 (3rd picture) which can be seen at O’Hara’s Battery and which at an altitude of 1,383 feet, is the highest gun emplacement on the Rock. Having been recently restored, much of the gun’s original mechanisms remain intact and this fascinating example of early 20th Century artillery coupled with the spectacular 360 degree views from the battery make it a ‘must-see’ for anyone visiting the Rock. There are plenty more examples of 20th Century military installations in the Upper Rock including the impressive post-WW2 guns at Princess Anne’s Battery (4th picture) and the derelict remains of some smaller weapons which can be observed on Royal Anglian Way.

Throughout the centuries, many thousands of lives have been lost in defence of the Rock, with thousands more perishing in often disastrous attempts to conquer this most coveted of prizes. But Gibraltar is so much more than just the gatekeeper to the Mediterranean or the sum total of the walls and bastions which make up this impenetrable fortress town. The iconic Rock itself has been marvelled upon by travellers for many millennia and remains the centrepiece of Gibraltar’s tourist product. This lump of Jurassic limestone in the south of Europe and just 14 miles from the North African mainland is itself the cradle of ancient civilizations, the cradle of history.

Full-day Gibraltar Tour from Seville with Rock of Gibraltar, St. Michael´s Cave

If You Go:

By Road: The only way into Gibraltar is via the neighbouring Spanish town of La Linea.
By Train: There is no railway system in Gibraltar, however the nearby town of San Roque in Spain is only about 10 minutes drive from Gibraltar and is well connected on RENFE, Spain’s national rail network.
By Air: British Airways and Easyjet both operate daily direct flights from Gatwick Airport. Monarch Airlines also operates a regular schedules service from London Luton and Manchester airports. Alternatively, you could fly to the airport in Malaga which offers a better selection of international options including direct flights to the US and most European destinations and is only about 1.5 hours drive from Gibraltar.

About the author:
Tristan Cano is a UK trained solicitor and budding freelance journalist who lives and works in Gibraltar on the southern tip of Europe. In addition to various legal publications, he has written extensively in the local and international press about Gibraltar’s economy and Gaming Industry. He is also a keen traveler with a particular interest is Gibraltar’s history and is keen to develop his travel writing beyond the Gibraltar and Southern Spain. triscano@hotmail.com

All photos are by Tristan Cano.