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Grand Casemates Gates
Grand Casemates Gates, formerly Waterport Gate, provide an entrance from the northwest to the old, fortified portion of the city of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, at Grand Casemates Square. Background The Rock of Gibraltar, linked to mainland Spain by a low isthmus, extends south into the Strait of Gibraltar which connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. It is a strategic location that has been occupied in turn by the Moors, Spanish and British. The Rock is inaccessible on its eastern side, which rises in a tall and steep cliff. The town lies on the west side along the shore of the Bay of Gibraltar. For many years a gate provided access from the sea into the northwest of the town through the defensive wall that ran along the shore of the bay. The Moors occupied Gibraltar for centuries until Ferdinand IV of Castile took Gibraltar in the 1309 siege. In 1333 the Moors retook Gibraltar after a lengthy siege. The Spanish regained Gibraltar in August ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fortifications Of Gibraltar
The Gibraltar peninsula, located at the far southern end of Iberia, has great strategic importance as a result of its position by the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. It has repeatedly been contested between European and North African powers and has endured fourteen sieges since it was first settled in the 11th century. The peninsula's occupants – Moors, Spanish, and British – have built successive layers of fortifications and defences including walls, bastions, casemates, gun batteries, magazines, tunnels and galleries. At their peak in 1865, the fortifications housed around 681 guns mounted in 110 batteries and positions, guarding all land and sea approaches to Gibraltar. Hughes & Migos, p. 91 The fortifications continued to be in military use until as late as the 1970s and by the time tunnelling ceased in the late 1960s, over of galleries had been dug in an area of only . Gibraltar's fortifications are clustered in three main a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Engineer Battery
Engineer Battery was an artillery battery in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Description Engineer Battery was at the southern end of the Line Wall Curtain which starts at the North Bastion. The battery was at the end of what was the fortification wall for the western coast of the town which protected it from bombardment by ships in the Bay of Gibraltar. The Line Wall Curtain, as it stands, was built by the British in the 18th century running north–south as part of the Line Wall western defenses. In 1859 there was just one gun at the Engineer Battery guarding the northern edge of Rosia Bay Rosia Bay is the only natural harbour in Gibraltar, the British Overseas Territory at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. Formerly referred to as Rosia Harbour, it is located on the southwest side of Gibraltar. Rosia Bay was the site of th ... and two nearby magazines. but by 1897 the battery had three 12 pounder QF guns. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Line Wall Curtain
The Line Wall Curtain is a defensive curtain wall that forms part of the fortifications of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Description The Line Wall runs from the North Bastion south along the western coast of the town to Engineer Battery, just south of the South Mole. It protected the town from bombardment from ships in the Bay of Gibraltar and from troops landing from the sea. The Line Wall Curtain, as it stands, was built by the British in the 18th century running north–south as part of the Line Wall western defenses. History The wall incorporates, and is to some extent built upon, older Spanish and Moorish fragments. The earlier wall from the Moorish period incorporated square and round towers along its length, whose traces were still visible in the 1770s. It was pierced by clay pipes that carried water from a well down the slopes, used for supplying water to galleys moored in the bay. An aqueduct ran along the Line Wall, enclosed in its masonry, to the Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Landport (Gibraltar)
The Landport ( es, Puerta de Tierra) is a gate into the territory of Gibraltar. It was originally the only entrance to the fortification from the land and so was heavily fortified and guarded. Description After the territory was first captured from the Spanish in 1704, the British defended the Landport with twenty guns. The gate was subsequently defended by the ''Inundation'' — a flooded and fortified area of ground measuring about in length by about broad and was "nearly man-height" in depth. There were also obstacles in it such as ''chevaux de frise'' and metal hoops. There was also a moat covering the northern approach — the Landport Ditch. The ditch's defences included a palisade and a gunpowder mine which could be exploded beneath an assault. To cross these defences, there was a drawbridge which was pulled up at night. Tobacco smugglers would exit the gate at this time and lurk outside, waiting for an opportunity to cross the neutral ground into Spain du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino
Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino (1520–1586), known as ''El Fratin'' or ''Il Fratino'' ("The Little Friar"), was a military engineer who served the Spanish Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor Charles V, and then his son Philip II of Spain. He is known for having designed the first Martello tower as well as many other fortifications. Family Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino came from the Paleari Fratino family of Morcote. This Lombardy, Lombard town, near to Lugano, had long been contested between Milan and Como. It became part of the Old Swiss Confederacy, Swiss Confederacy in 1517. A military engineer by occupation, his brothers Bernardino and Giorgio followed the same trade, as did Giorgio's son Francesco and grandson Pietro. Giacomo and the other members of his family designed and built fortifications throughout Spanish territory, which at that time also included Portugal, parts of Italy and Presidios in North Africa. Martello tower During the Italian War of 1551–1559, Gio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Bastion, Gibraltar
The North Bastion, formerly the ''Baluarte San Pablo'' (St. Paul's Bastion) was part of the fortifications of Gibraltar, in the north of the peninsula, protecting the town against attack from the mainland of Spain. The bastion was based on the older Giralda tower, built in 1309. The bastion, with a mole that extended into the Bay of Gibraltar to the west and a curtain wall stretching to the Rock of Gibraltar on its east, was a key element in the defenses of the peninsula. After the British took Gibraltar in 1704 they further strengthened these fortifications, flooding the land in front and turning the curtain wall into the Grand Battery. Today, the bastion is surrounded by reclaimed land to the west and north. Glacis Road runs along the base of the bastion's former glacis. Smith Dorrien Avenue separates the bastion from the curtain wall, which is still largely intact. The bastion is occupied by the Giralda Gardens and a pétanque club. The Government of Gibraltar has plans to reh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giralda Tower, Gibraltar
The North Bastion, formerly the ''Baluarte San Pablo'' (St. Paul's Bastion) was part of the fortifications of Gibraltar, in the north of the peninsula, protecting the town against attack from the mainland of Spain. The bastion was based on the older Giralda tower, built in 1309. The bastion, with a mole that extended into the Bay of Gibraltar to the west and a curtain wall stretching to the Rock of Gibraltar on its east, was a key element in the defenses of the peninsula. After the British took Gibraltar in 1704 they further strengthened these fortifications, flooding the land in front and turning the curtain wall into the Grand Battery. Today, the bastion is surrounded by reclaimed land to the west and north. Glacis Road runs along the base of the bastion's former glacis. Smith Dorrien Avenue separates the bastion from the curtain wall, which is still largely intact. The bastion is occupied by the Giralda Gardens and a pétanque club. The Government of Gibraltar has plans to reh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moorish Castle
The Moorish Castle is the name given to a medieval fortification in Gibraltar comprising various buildings, gates, and fortified walls, with the dominant features being the Tower of Homage and the Gate House. Part of the castle itself also housed the prison of Gibraltar until it was relocated in 2010. The Tower of Homage is clearly visible to all visitors to Gibraltar; not only because of its striking construction, but also because of its dominant and strategic position. Although sometimes compared to the nearby '' alcazars'' in Spain, the Moorish Castle in Gibraltar was constructed by the Marinid dynasty, making it unique in the Iberian Peninsula. History Gibraltar has always been of special significance to the numerous peoples and civilizations that have visited or occupied it over the ages, from the Neanderthal period, through the Classical and on to Moorish, Spanish, and the current British rule. The Moorish occupation is by far the longest in Gibraltar's recorded history ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Capture Of Gibraltar
The Capture of Gibraltar by Anglo-Dutch forces of the Grand Alliance occurred between 1 and 4 August 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. Since the beginning of the war the Alliance had been looking for a harbour in the Iberian Peninsula to control the Strait of Gibraltar and facilitate naval operations against the French fleet in the western Mediterranean Sea. An attempt to seize Cádiz had ended in failure in September 1702, but following the Alliance fleet's successful raid in Vigo Bay in October that year, the combined fleets of the 'Maritime Powers', the Netherlands and England, had emerged as the dominant naval force in the region. This strength helped persuade King Peter II of Portugal to sever his alliance with France and Bourbon-controlled Spain, and ally himself with the Grand Alliance in 1703 as the Alliance fleets could campaign in the Mediterranean using access to the port of Lisbon and conduct operations in support of the Austrian Habsburg candidat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a federal republic that existed from 1579, during the Dutch Revolt, to 1795 (the Batavian Revolution). It was a predecessor state of the Netherlands and the first fully independent Dutch nation state. The republic was established after seven Dutch provinces in the Spanish Netherlands revolted against rule by Spain. The provinces formed a mutual alliance against Spain in 1579 (the Union of Utrecht) and declared their independence in 1581 (the Act of Abjuration). It comprised Groningen, Frisia, Overijssel, Guelders, Utrecht, Holland and Zeeland. Although the state was small and contained only around 1.5 million inhabitants, it controlled a worldwide network of seafaring trade routes. Through its tradin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Great Britain
The Kingdom of Great Britain (officially Great Britain) was a Sovereign state, sovereign country in Western Europe from 1 May 1707 to the end of 31 December 1800. The state was created by the 1706 Treaty of Union and ratified by the Acts of Union 1707, which united the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England (which included Wales) and Kingdom of Scotland, Scotland to form a single kingdom encompassing the whole island of Great Britain and its outlying islands, with the exception of the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. The unitary state was governed by a single Parliament of Great Britain, parliament at the Palace of Westminster, but distinct legal systems – English law and Scots law – remained in use. The formerly separate kingdoms had been in personal union since the 1603 "Union of the Crowns" when James VI of Scotland became King of England and King of Ireland. Since James's reign, who had been the first to refer to himself as "king of Great Britain", a political un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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