Visit the Gibralfaro of Malaga
An impregnable 14th Century Moorish Fortress in Andalucia, Spain
Oct 14, 2008
Standing on the site of a Phoenician lighthouse, from which its name is derived, the magnificent Gibralfaro fortress was built to enhance the defences of the Nasrid Palace of the Alcazaba, to which it is linked. Together they offer the visitor one of the finest and best preserved examples of Moorish and post-Reconquest Spanish architecture in Andalucia, which can be compared with the Alhambra of Granada.
History of the Gibralfaro
The adjacent but earlier Alcazaba was originally built as a defensive fortress in the 8th Century, and subsequently became a fortified Palace of the Nasrid rulers of the Moorish Kingdom of Granada.
By the 14th Century the increasing power of artillery threatened the effectiveness of the Alcazaba’s defences, and Yusuf 1st of Granada built the Gibralfaro on a high promontory further up the mountain, from which enemy artillery could have made the Alcazaba indefensible.
Together, the twin fortresses with their massive towers and ramparts were considered impregnable. Although they were surrendered after a long siege to the Reyes Catolicos, Ferdinand and Isabel in 1487 in the final years of the Reconquest, this was due to the threat of starvation rather than any direct assault.
After the Reconquest Spain’s Christian Kings took the Alcazaba as a royal palace, and the Gibralfaro became one of the key points in Spain's defences against the Barbary Pirates. Even after the pirate threat was finally defeated in the 19th century, it was continually garrisoned by the Spanish Army until 1925, with only one brief period of occupation by Napoleon’s troops between 1810 and 1814.
In the whole of this period it never came under direct attack, and it’s easy to picture generations of Spanish soldiers dozing away their sentry duty on the ramparts, day dreaming about the evening’s pleasures in the city below.
Architecture of the Gibralfaro de Malaga
The fortress is a fine example of the latest in military defences in the 14th Century. It is completely encircled by a massive barbican wall, topped by a protected walk screened by merlons and look out posts .
The wall zigzags to follow the contours of the hill and to allow effective defensive fire to be brought to bear along tits face without the need for expensive towers. It is extended into the Coracha, two zigzagging curtain walls protecting a broad open corridor descending the hill to link with the outer rampart of the Alcazaba.
The entrances to the fortress are angled to allow the defenders to bring overwhelming fire to bear on any intruder.
Within the outer wall are gardens, store rooms and living accommodation, bakers’ ovens, water cisterns, a well and a now abandoned Christian church, originally a Mosque. The old powder magazine in the central courtyard now contains a small museum, with an interesting historical display of uniforms and artefacts.
Visiting the Gibralfaro
The castle is open every day except Tuesday, and tickets,either for the Gibralfaro alone or for a combined visit to it and the Alacazaba, are available at the entrance from about €0.60.
Although it’s linked with the Alcazaba, the entrance to the Gibralfaro is quite separate. Either walk from the Puerta Oscura gardens below, or take a bus from the Avenida Manuel Agustin Heredia.
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