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City of Gibraltar
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| City Walls and Bastions Gibraltar's great fortified wall has more history associated with it than most other walled cities or towns in western Europe. The wall and its defensive Bastions still stands today amidst the expansion of the modern city. The wall represents over 800 years of Moorish, Spanish and British history. Northern Defences Moorish Castle
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The city of Gibraltar is small, a person can walk from one end of Main Street to the other in about fifteen minutes, so for the purposes of this website the downtown area is referred to as the TOWN AREA, embracing the fact that most places of interest are a short walk from each other. | |||
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A
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This section includes the following
Grand Casemates Square Main Street |
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B
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This section includes the following
The Piazza (John Macintosh Square) The House of Assembly The City Hall |
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C
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Cathedral of Saint Mary the Crowned This cathedral was built by the Spanish in 1462 on the site of the old mosque of Gibraltar. The old mosque was much larger than the current building and included a typical court with moorish pillars and arches. The Cathedral's small courtyard is all that remains of the mosque's court. The Royal Arms of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella can still be seen engraved on a slab which was moved from the north gate to the courtyard where it can be seen today. The building was heavily damaged during the Great Siege and in 1810 the Cathedral was rebuilt. In 1931 the Church was restored and the current grand facade was erected to replace the poorer one built back in 1810. |
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D
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Gibraltar Museum The Gibraltar Museum is housed in a building which was used as a bomb house during the eighteenth century. The Museum was inaugurated in 1930 and is a must for the visitor with a more academic interest in Gibraltar. The collections include military and archaeological artefacts as well as an extraordinary piece, the first skull of an "apeman" to be found anywhere in the world was discovered in Gibraltar in 1848. It was first mentioned in the minutes of the Gibraltar Scientific Society for March, 3, 1848. Unfortunately it's importance was not recognised until 1864 and the type of human represented is now known from a discovery made in the Valley of the Neander (Neanderthal) near Dusseldorf in Germany, in 1856. Two rooms are especially dedicated to the 1704 British invasion and to the Great Siege, and a big scale model reproduces all the streets of the city as it was in 1865. A section of the museum is also dedicated to flora and fauna on the Rock. The Medieval Moorish Baths can be visited within the Museum. In 1906 an authority on Moorish antiquities enthused about its exceptional interest, Except in the Alhambra, there is nothing in Spain to compare with it. The baths central room has a sixteen-sided vault roof supported by arches on polished columns. |
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E
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The Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity It is as a result of the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity being raised to Cathedral Status that Gibraltar became a city. The Scroll signed by Queen Victoria is housed in the vestry. The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity is the mother church of the largest Anglican Diocese in the world, the Diocese of Gibraltar in Europe. Building of the Church commenced in 1825 but was not completed until 1832. Its walls were built with extra thickness to withstand the blasts from heavy guns in the nearby King's Bastion. Some years would pass before it was consecrated in 1838, in a ceremony presided by Queen Adelaide, widow of William IV. |
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Kings chapel After British occupation, this Franciscan Chapel (Saint Francis Chapel) was converted into an Anglican Church for the local garrison. |
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The Convent (Governors Residence) Since 1704, the Convent has been the residence of the Governor of Gibraltar. It was built in the sixteenth century as a Franciscan Friars Monastery with a magnificent cloister as its centre. The facade was reconstructed in the nineteenth century in gothic style with red bricks. |
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H
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Trafalgar Cemetery This was formerly known as Southport Ditch Cemetery and dates back to 1798. In fact there are only two known graves of victims of the Battle of Trafalgar. Most of the graves are of victims of the naval conflict between the British and French at Algeciras in July 1801 as well as many victims of yellow fever epidemics. |
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Cable Car Station (Grand Parade) The cable car is one of three main ways of accessing the Upper Rock, the others being Taxi Tours and Walking. |
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The Alameda Botanic Gardens and Wildlife Park Gibraltar's botanic gardens were first created in 1816 as a place of tranquillity for the public and members of the garrison to stroll in peace. Now, plants from all over the world can be found in the gardens. |
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K
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Public footpath to Upper Rock This old and dilapidated footpath is the quickest way to get to the Nature Reserve by foot from the town. The beginning of the trek leads up what is locally known as Union Jack Steps, a series of steps which have a Union Jack painted on the side of them which can only be seen from the bottom of the steps looking upward. This painting is from the time of the referendum of 1967. The path intersects with a road leading up to Devil's Gap Battery which in turn leads to the Apes Den where visitors can have their first full scale encounter with the semi-wild monkeys. |
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L
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Garrison Library A library for use by the garrison was established in 1793 and was housed originally in a building on Main Street. As the library grew in size, a larger building was required and the British Government agreed to fund the construction of the imposing colonial style building which exists today. The library grew to well over 30,000 books and was believed to be the finest English Language library outside England. PLEASE NOTE THE GARRISON LIBRARY IS AN INDEPENDENT BODY WHICH IS NO LONGER ASSOCIATED WITH ANY MILITARY OR GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES, IT IS NOW A RESEARCH LIBRARY OPEN TO THOSE WITH RESEARCH REQUIREMENTS |
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Steps and Passageways The upper town is full of narrow passages and stairways. As mentioned before, the town is small and is built on the slope of the west side of the Rock, it is almost impossible to get lost, you either travel uphill or downhill to intersect with some part of Main Street. |
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