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Moorish Castle, Gibraltar
Author: James Cridland (public domain)
The Moorish Castle is the remains of the fortifications in Gibraltar. The most dominant features today are the Tower of Homage and the City Gate. The Moors, under Tarik ibn Ziyad, conquered southern Spain, starting with Gibraltar in AD711. Although no records were available, it is believed that construction of the Moorish Castle was started around this time.
The Tower of Homage is the highest tower from the Islamic period to be found anywhere on the Iberian Peninsula. What is visible today was a rebuilt done during the second Moorish occupation of the early 14th century.
The Moorish Castle today houses the Prison of Gibraltar. It also appears on the reverse side of the £5 Gibraltar banknotes.
Moorish Castle has been used for many activities, the most recent being as a concert hall. The Miss Gibraltar pagent was even held here as well as Sound and Light shows. In 1848, part of a skull from the Neanderthal period (around 50,000 BC) was discovered in Moorish Castle, and is now on display at the Gibraltar Museum.
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