Sights in Gibraltar
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Apes' Den
The Rock's most famous inhabitants are the tailless Barbary Macaques, the only free-living primates in Europe. Some of the 240 apes hang around the Apes' Den near the middle cable-car station; the others can often be seen at the top cable-car station and the Great Siege Tunnels. Legend has it that when the apes (which may have been introduced from north Africa in the 18th century) disappear from Gibraltar, so will the British.
When numbers were at a low ebb during WWII, the British brought in simian reinforcements from Africa. Recently, however, their numbers have been increasing rapidly and a range of control measures from contraceptive implants to 'translocation' to Eur…
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Great Siege Tunnels
The Great Siege Tunnels were gun emplacements hewn out by hand by the British during the 1779-83 siege. They constitute a tiny portion of the more than 70km (43mi) of tunnels in the Rock, most of which are off limits to the public. Nearby is the Tower of Homage, the last vestige of Gibraltar's Muslim castle, built in 1333.
New Ministry of Defence Tunnel Tours can now take you through the WWII caves where the Allied invasion of North Africa was planned.
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St Michael's Cave
If you walk for around twenty minutes, south down St Michael's Rd from the top cable-car station (or up from the Apes' Den), St Michael's Cave is a big natural grotto that was once home to Neolithic inhabitants of the Rock. Today, apart from attracting tourists in droves, it's used for concerts, plays, even fashion shows. There's a café outside.
From the top cable-car station, you can see Morocco in clear weather. About 20 minutes walk south down St Michael's Road (or 20 minutes up from the Apes' Den), St Michael's Cave is a big impressive natural grotto that was once home to Neolithic inhabitants of the Rock. Today it's used for concerts, plays and even fashion shows.
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The Rock
Naturally, the main sight is the awesome rock; a vast limestone ridge that rises to 426m, with sheer cliffs on its northern and eastern sides. For the ancient Greeks and Romans this was one of the two pillars of Hercules, split from the other, Jebel Musa in Morocco, in the course of Hercules' arduous twelve labours. The two great rocks marked the edge of the ancient world.
Most of the upper Rock, starting just above the town, is a nature reserve with spectacular views and several interesting spots to visit. A great way to get up here is by the cable car (catch it from Red Sands Rd, it goes every few minutes 09:30-17:00).
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Princess Caroline's Battery
About 30 minutes' walk north (downhill) from the top cable-car station is Princess Caroline's Battery, housing the Military Heritage Centre. From here one road leads down to the Princess Royal Battery - more gun emplacements - while another leads up to the Great Siege Tunnels (or Upper Galleries), a complex defence system hewn out of the Rock by the British during the siege of 1779-83 to provide gun emplacements.
They constitute only a tiny proportion of more than 70km of tunnels and galleries in the Rock, most of which are off limits to the public.
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Military Heritage Centre and Great Siege Tunnels
Princess Caroline's Battery, a half-hour walk north (downhill) from the top cable-car station, houses a Military Heritage Centre. From here a road leads up to the impressive Great Siege Tunnels, hand-hewn by the British for gun emplacements during the 1779-to-1783 siege. They constitute a tiny proportion of the more than 70km of tunnels in the Rock, most of which are off limits.
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Shrine of Our Lady of Europe
The southern tip of Gibraltar is known as Europa Point, the location of Gibraltar's first lighthouse, sacked by the infamous corsair (pirate), Barbarossa. It is also the site of the Christian Shrine of Our Lady of Europe, whose 15th-century statue of the Virgin and Child was miraculously unscathed during the pirate's devastating attack.
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Smugglers' Cove
Once a den of smugglers who supplied the mountain bandits of Ronda with contraband, Gibraltar in the 21st century has continued to receive complaints from the Spanish authorities about the smuggling of physical goods and also about the alleged laundering of illicit funds that end up invested in construction or property in Spain.
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Main Street
This pedestrianised street has an emphatically British appearance, but the Spanish lilt in the air is a reminder that this is still Mediterranean Europe. Most Spanish and Islamic buildings on Gibraltar were destroyed in 18th-century sieges, but the Rock bristles with British fortifications, gates and gun emplacements.
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Ibrahim-Al-Ibrahim Mosque
A symbol of the racial and religious symbiosis of Gibraltar's past and, to some degree its present, is the Ibrahim-Al-Ibrahim Mosque, opened in 1997. It was built at the behest of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia to cater for all the Moroccans working on the Rock and is said to be the largest mosque in a non-Islamic country.
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Nelson's Anchorage
South of Trafalgar Cemetary, Nelson's Anchorage pinpoints the site where Nelson's body was brought ashore from HMS Victory - preserved in a rum barrel, so legend says. A 100-tonne Victorian supergun, made in Britain in 1870, commemorates the spot.
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Parson's Lodge
South of Nelson's Anchorage is Parson's Lodge, a gun battery atop a 40m cliff. Beneath the gun emplacements is a labyrinth of tunnels with former ammunition stores and living quarters.
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Gibraltar, A City Under Siege Exhibition
This little exhibition is worth glancing through on your way back to town if you've just come from a visit to the impressive Rock and Nature Reserve.
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