Moorish Castle

The Moorish Castle is the name given to a medieval fortification in Gibraltar comprising various buildings, gates, and fortified walls, with the dominant features being the Tower of Homage and the Gate House. Part of the castle itself also housed the prison of Gibraltar until it was relocated in 2010. The Tower of Homage is clearly visible to all visitors to Gibraltar; not only because of its striking construction, but also because of its dominant and strategic position. Although sometimes compared to the nearby alcazars in Spain, the Moorish Castle in Gibraltar was constructed by the Marinid dynasty, making it unique in the Iberian Peninsula.

History

Gibraltar has always been of special significance to the numerous peoples and civilizations that have visited or occupied it over the ages, from the Neanderthal period, through the Classical and on to Muslim, Spanish, and the current British rule.

The Muslim occupation is by far the longest in Gibraltar's recorded history, having lasted from 711 to 1309 and then again from 1333 to 1462, a total of 727 years.

The Moorish conquest of Iberia was led by Tarik ibn Ziyad and Musa ibn Nusayr, who may have landed in Europe at or near Gibraltar. Gibraltar thus became the stepping-stone to the Moorish conquests of most of Iberia and part of France. This spectacular feat of arms took a mere twenty-one years, no mean task considering the distances and terrain involved, and the fact that mechanical transport on land was not then in use. The strategic importance of Gibraltar rose in the last years of the Moorish rule, when, after the successful Spanish reconquest of the entire Guadalquivir valley, Gibraltar became one of the key elements in communication between the Emirate of Granada and Moorish domains in northwestern Africa.