The South Bastion was part of the fortifications of

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

, protecting the western base of the Charles V Wall. It was originally built by Spanish military engineers, later improved by the British. The South Bastion stands at the south end of the

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 ...

which defends the town from attack from the

Bay of Gibraltar The Bay of Gibraltar (), is a bay at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. It is around long by wide, covering an area of some , with a depth of up to in the centre of the bay. It opens to the south into the Strait of Gibraltar and the Med ...

. Another curtain wall runs east from the bastion to the base of a precipice. This wall is pierced by the Southport Gates, guarded by the South Bastion and the

Flat Bastion Flat Bastion is a bastion which projects southward from the Charles V Wall in the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Once known as the St. Jago's Bastion or the Baluarte de Santiago in Spanish language, Spani ...

on either side.

Early structures

The Milanese military engineer

Giovanni Battista Calvi Giovanni Battista Calvi (also known as Giovan Battista Calvi, Gianbattista Calvi and/or Juan Bautista Calvi) was an Italian military engineer at the service of the Spanish Monarchy during the 16th century. Early career Despite popular belief tha ...

visited Gibraltar in 1557 and drew plans for two defensive positions to the south of the town, where the South Bastion and Flat Bastion now stand, connected by a new curtain wall. Calvi was ill, and did not stay to carry out the planned works. It may have been another Italian, Amodeo Agostino, who died in 1571 who built the original bastions. Another source says the bastion that was incorporated into the South Bastion was probably designed for

Philip II of Spain Philip II (21 May 152713 September 1598), sometimes known in Spain as Philip the Prudent (), was King of Spain from 1556, King of Portugal from 1580, and King of Naples and List of Sicilian monarchs, Sicily from 1554 until his death in 1598. He ...

by the Italian engineer Giacomo Fratino in the 1560s.

Fortification

The South Bastion, called the ''Baluarte de Nuestra Señora del Rosario'' ("Bastion of Our Lady of the Rosary") by the Spanish, had been built by 1627. Casemented gun positions on the bastion enfiladed the ditch across the Gate of Africa, now the Southport Gate. The South bastion, and the

further inland, protected the Southport Gate, which lay between them. A writer in 1786 described the southern defenses of Gibraltar: Above the precipice the Moorish Wall and the upper Charles V Wall both continue up to the crest of the rock. A traveler described the bastion in 1771 as follows: The same writer said of the insect life: "The centipedes and quadrantipedes are plenty, with a large hairy spider, which some say is the tarantula, and together with the grilia talpa, are inhabitants of the south bastion."

Today

One of the bastion's current uses is to house the Gibraltar College which sits on top of the bastion. A statue of

Horatio Nelson Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte ( – 21 October 1805) was a Royal Navy officer whose leadership, grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics brought about a number of decisive British naval victories during the French ...

stands below the South Bastion's wall, erected to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his victory and death in the

Battle of Trafalgar The Battle of Trafalgar was a naval engagement that took place on 21 October 1805 between the Royal Navy and a combined fleet of the French Navy, French and Spanish Navy, Spanish navies during the War of the Third Coalition. As part of Na ...

(21 October 1805). The statue was designed by John Doubleday and shows Nelson as he was when he last arrived at Gibraltar. The sculpture was commissioned by the Government of Gibraltar and is cast in part from copper taken from

HMS Victory HMS ''Victory'' is a 104-gun first-rate wooden sailing ship of the line. With years of service as of , she is the world's List of oldest surviving ships, oldest naval vessel still in Ship commissioning, commission. She was ordered for the Roy ...

which visited the harbour on a number of occasions.

References

Notes Citations Sources * * * * * * * {{Fortifications of Gibraltar Bastions in Gibraltar