The largest and most powerful reminder of the Moorish occupation of Gibraltar which spans it’s Medieval heritage – the Tower of Homage – is best known as the ‘Moorish Castle’. Yet it is only the central core of a castle whose four layers of fortifications stretched down to modern day Casemates Square, according to local academic and Museum Director Dr. Geraldine Finlayson.
Dr. Finlayson disclosed this fascinating snippet of the Rock’s history during her recent well-attended lecture exploring Gibraltar’s Medieval History at the University of Gibraltar. According to Arabic oral tradition, Gibraltar’s Medieval period begins when Tariq ibn Ziad’s army lands in Gibraltar in AD711, possibly on today’s ‘Eastern Beach’ during the Moorish conquest of the ex-Roman province of Hispania. In 1068 the Moorish Kingdom’s ruler ordered his Governor to “build a fort on Gibraltar” in anticipation of an invasion.
Over the next four centuries the Rock was besieged and captured many times changing hands between Christian and Moorish forces until finally it fell to the Castilians in 1462 at the end of Gibraltar’s Medieval period. Throughout this time the Castle and its defences were refortified and expanded in a process that was to continue for centuries after.
“Most people would be forgiven for thinking that the Tower of Homage is the Moorish Castle, but it is only part of it. The tower was in fact the final line of defence.” The Moorish Castle was made up of four strategic segments. Dr. Finlayson gestures to point ‘D’ of the diagram shown on this page, “the ‘Dar al Sinaha’, which I think suggests the origin of the word ‘Barcina’, as it was also called, was the Port with a ‘Galley House’. This is now Casemates Square, which once met the shoreline.”
While excavating Casemates, Dr. Finlayson’s team uncovered the Galley House that sat along the southern wall; “there was evidence of the building having been built partly on land and partly on water […] when we reached the lowest levels, the tide used to come in; part of the time we were working with our feet in very damp mud.” Today the remains are surrounded by Casemates’ busy restaurants and bars.
“The fortress was built to become increasingly defensive as enemies moved in towards the Tower of Homage. If the Rock was being attacked, soldiers would withdraw into the inner recesses of the castle.”
“To get to the Keep, you would have to push past the fortress’ defences and the huge palace walls of the ‘Qasbah’ and make your way through a tiny little arched entrance which can still be seen today. You could enter on horseback, and you would need to proceed in single file… If you overcame all this, you are then faced with the Tower of Homage; heavily defended and raining down all manner of projectiles.”
Deep inside the Tower, Dr. Finlayson and her team uncovered a wall which still holds a missile from a catapult, providing evidence that this was the exterior wall of the original tower that was later rebuilt in the 14th Century by the ‘Marinid Dynasty’.
“When the Marinids built the tower around it, they had left in place everything that had been thrown at it […] very likely there are other similar structures inside
Gibraltar’s walls.”
This part of Gibraltar’s history is still there for anyone who knows where to look.
The Gibraltar University will be hosting lectures on Gibraltar history every Friday at 10 AM until the 30th of November