EuropeGibraltar

Continuing the exploration of Gibraltar

By October 10, 2017 No Comments
Barbary macaques on Gibraltar
Jewish cemetery on Gibraltar

Jewish cemetery

On Sunday, I started to tell you about my day in Gibraltar and I paused after walking the entire length of the peninsula and then started walking up the very steep path to Jew’s Gate where there is a Jewish cemetery that last had a new body buried here in 1848. Of course, this was all uphill and I was worn out and running out of time, since there was more uphill. That is when I jumped into a taxi tour that I found at ATT website with a bunch of other people for 30 euro. The guide was actually quite good and gave some great info, but it was worth the money just for the ride. ????

St Michael's CaveHe took us to St Michael’s Cave, which is a highlight!!! This natural cave is big compared to the size of Gibraltar and is one of 150 on The Rock, but it is the best. During WW2 it was fitted out as a hospital and when a second entrance was blasted into it the Lower section was discovered. Only with special guided tours a couple times a year can you go down to the bottom where there is a lake. How cool would that be?

St Michael's Cave 2

I thought this was a cool photo of someone checking out the cave.

Our next stop was higher still, but so worth it as we saw the famous Barbary macaques. These tailless monkeys seem to have been brought over during the Arab invasion and now there are 260-300 individuals in 5-6 families. The most amazing part is how they jump onto and off the moving vehicles as they wander by. Let me tell you, the photo opportunities are endless with these guys. ????

Seige tunnels at Gibraltar

Seige tunnels under The Notch

The finally stop I had with the tour was at the Siege Tunnels. He stopped here and told everyone about them and that if you wanted to visit them you could and then walk on down the hill. Would you believe I was the only one that did this? I mean come on, down is the easy part! ???? The tunnels we well worth the visit as they were dug out by hand during the Great Siege of 1779-1783…..4 years they were under siege. Amazing. These tunnels are inside the mountain and are on the northern side with cannon placements every now and then. Very cool.

The Moorish castle on Gibraltar

The Moorish castle

The last place I visited was the Moorish Castle. This is the fortification that was built in 1160 and the Tower of Homage is visible from the town below. As cool as it was to be in a 900-year-old fort, all you can visit is the tower. It gives you some info and a great view, but I would have loved to see the rest of the castle.

After the castle, I hurried the rest of the way down, through town, and across the “Frontier” to catch my bus, in Spain, back across the bay. It was a very tiring day, but so worth it as I saw just about as much as I could. Just so you know, some other options besides walking or a taxi tour are to take the #2 bus to Europa Point and you can take a cable car to the top of the mountain. The only problem with the cable car is that you will miss St Michael’s Cave and the Siege Tunnels. Of course, there is also walking up the Charles V Wall (seen in the cover photo behind the monkey), which has stairs and goes straight up the mountain about halfway down the peninsula. It was built as a new fortification further south in 1540.

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