<![CDATA[
<body text="white" link="yellow" vlink="yellow">
<font size="2" face="Geneva,Arial">The Moorish Castle's dominant position over the bay of Gibraltar can be fully appreciated from this panoramic view of its surroundings. The Moorish invasion of Europe started from Gibraltar in 711, a conquest lead by Tarik Ibn Ziyad. Gibraltar is believed to be a derivation of Jebel Tarik, The Rock of Tarik.</font>
<p><font size="2" face="Geneva,Arial">The Moorish Castle Complex is made up of various buildings, gates, fortified walls and its most dominant features, The Tower of Homage.</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Geneva,Arial"><b>History Of The Period<br>
</b>Gibraltar has always been of special significance to the numerous peoples and civilisations which have visited or occupied it over the ages, from the Neanderthal period, through the Classical and on to the Moorish, Spanish and the present British occupations.</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Geneva,Arial">The Moorish occupation is, by far, the longest in Gibraltar's recorded history, having lasted from 711 to 1309 and then from 1350 to 1462, a total of 710 years.</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Geneva,Arial">The importance of Gibraltar to both Moslems and Christians lies in the fact that the Moorish invasion and occupation of Europe started from Gibraltar in 711 and, through its final recapture by Spain in 1462, Moorish rule was gradually undermined till, with the fall of Granada in 1492, the Moorish occupation of Europe came to an end after an uninterrupted 781 years.</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Geneva,Arial">The Moorish conquest of Spain was led by Tarik Ibn Ziyad and Musa ibn Nasayr. Gibraltar thus became the steppingstone to the conquest of Spain and part of France. This spectacular feat of arms took a mere twenty-two years, no mean task considering the distances involved, the state of the terrain at the time and the fact that mechanical power had not yet been invented.</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Geneva,Arial"><b>History Of The Moorish Castle</b><br>
Little is known of the actual history of The Castle. Some chroniclers claim that its origins date to the 8th Century when The Castle, in its simplest form, is reputed to have been completed by Tarik in 742.</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Geneva,Arial">In 1068, the Arab Governor of Algeciras, the city on the west side of the Bay of Gibraltar, ordered that a fort be built on "Jebel Tarik" (Gibraltar) to guard and watch events on the other side of the Strait. This could very well have been the origins of the present Tower of Homage since there always appeared to have been a castle on this very site around which the original walled town grew and to which the population withdrew in troubled times.</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Geneva,Arial"><b>Description</b><br>
The Moorish Castle Complex starts at its highest point with The Tower of Homage at its eastern extremity. Around The Tower lie the Inner Keep and the Outer Keep. West of the Keeps lies The Qasbah with its famous and unique Gate House.</font></p>
<p><font size="2" face="Geneva,Arial">Further down the Rock we come to Villa Vieja (The Old Town) and from thence to La Barcina with its Sea Gate at the site of the present Casemates Gates. La Barcina is the name given to the area where the original Moorish dockyard stood and where their boats were careened for repairs and protection.</font></p>
<div align="left">
<p><font size="2" face="Geneva,Arial">The photograph above shows the gate house as it stands today surround by a car park, most visitors are not aware of its existence despite the possibility that it is the oldest building in Gibraltar. A few metres up the hill from the gate house is this well preserved tower.</font></div>
</body>
]]>