| B1 Grand Casemates Square B2 Main Street |
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| Grand Casemates Square Today Casemates Square is a vibrant busy commercial area containing shops, bars and restaurants. It is the gateway into Gibraltar for most tourists, but many do not realise the important history of this area. This was where the engineers sent by the Sultan Abd-al-Mummin of Morocco landed in May 1160, with instructions to lay the foundations of the new and noble City of Victory. The beach they landed on is now Casemates Square. There is no record of any large settlement on the Rock prior to then. The original city laid out by the Moroccan engineers was quite small and covered only the area included within the walls of the Moorish Castle and the land immediately below. Moslem inhabitants used to draw up their galleys onto the beach. When Gibraltar was captured by Ferdinand IV of Castille, in 1309, he gave orders that a galley house should be built on the beach where the ships of his navy could find shelter and be repaired. Until the late 15th century the sea used to run through the walls into the square, and there was a special gate in the wall which was opened to let the galleys in. The building of the Old Mole in the 1570s led to the channel silting and the galley house was no longer used. This gate was near the old Water Gate. The galley house was built on sand and sank into the soft ground over the centuries. In the foreground of the 360 pano opposite you will see what is believed to be the original foundations of the galley house. The Square plays host to a number of events including the Ceremony of the Keys.
At the southern end of the square adjacent to the entrance to Main Street there is a Statue of a Gibraltar Defence force Soldier in summer Battle Dress, his guard duty posture is symbolic of the role undertaken in defence of the Rock during World War Two.
THIS PLAQUE WAS UNVEILED |
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Main Street
Today Main Street is a busy shopping street which shows little evidence of earlier history much beyond the 19th century. The main town of Gibraltar began to develop along both sides of Main Street from the 14th century. This new district was known to Spaniards as La Turba. The street was called the Calle Real along its whole length but in later years different sections were given different names. At the beginning of the 19th century the section of the street in front of the Cathedral of St Mary the Crowned became known as Church Street. The street did not officially regain the name of Main Street along its whole length until 1913.
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