Author: John Cruse

Day six consisted of a visit to The Hypogeum, The Three Cities and the Malta at War Museum.

The Hal Saflieni Hypogeum is a Neolithic underground burial complex carved out of the limestone and is one of Malta’s most important World Heritage sites. Thousands of human skeletons were found here in a series of chambers and hollows cut progressively deeper into the rock, which ultimately create an elaborate three level burial complex. The complex was in use for centuries and was embellished with superb rock carvings, ochre wall painting and numerous works of art and gifts for the departed in an underworld for the dead.

The Hypogeum was discovered by workmen during construction of overlying houses at the turn of the 20th century. Wells were being cut for the houses and resulted in the workmen cutting through the roof of the underground chambers. The current site contains a cinema where a short film is shown about The Hypogeum, after which visitors are taken down through the three levels with audio guides that explain what is being seen.

Unfortunately photography is not allowed in The Hypogeum so we cannot share the experience of our visit but pictures and a virtual experience are available on the Heritage Malta Hypogeum site at https://heritagemalta.mt/explore/hal-saflieni-hypogeum/

The Hypogeum has a limited entrance to 10 persons at a time, with timed tours, and gets booked up months in advance, so turning up on the day does not work and has to be booked in advance.

Our next visit was to the Three Cities of Senglea (Isla), Vittoriosa (Birgu) and Conspicua (Bormia) which sit across the Grand Harbour from Valletta.

The series of inlets and promontories were chosen by the Knights of St John as their first headquarters when they took control of Malta in 1530. Centred around Galley Creek were three small towns with the main one being Birgu, which still retains much of the originality of the 16th century streets and buildings.

From the Three Cities, the Knights of St John valiantly defended the island from the Ottomans during the Great Siege of 1565. After the Great Siege they built Valletta but also refortified the three towns’ massive defences known as the Margarita and Cottonera Lines.

Strategically located on a hillock at the end of Birgu peninsula the Fort dominates the Grand Harbour. By 1274, the stronghold, previously known as Castrum Marias (castle by the sea), consisted of two enclosures. The Sicilian overlords considered this fort as a guarantee of their interests in the Maltese Islands. Christened, Fort St Angelo, by the Order of St John and turned into their headquarters, the Knights remodelled the building extensively with the construction of a series of artillery platforms, which marked the bastioned system of defence into the Maltese Islands. The rejuvenated sentinel of the Grand Harbour had a major role during the Great Siege.

As one walks around the streets of Birgu, buildings that were the Auberges (hostel/lodge) of various Knights are marked with plaques. The Knights were made up of many nationalities and it seemed that the Auberges were arranged by nationality.

As the picture above shows, the Auberges are still lived in today. The streets of Vittoriosa (Birgu) are charming and definitely worth visiting if you are into your history.

Also in Vittoriosa (Birgu) is the Malta at War Museum. During World War II the Maltese made good use of their stone quarrying heritage to build numerous underground shelters as protection from heavy bombing. There were several hundred shelters in Malta and one of the largest was in the Three Cities, whose proximity to the Grand Harbour made it a frequent target. Today, the underground shelter houses the Malta at War Museum where one can see various presentations of how World War II impacted Malta and tour the tunnels.

Some of the tunnels were very small, so when the tunnels were full it must have been claustrophobic. There was a communal dormitory which was fitted with bunk-beds that were used on a first come, first served, basis. There were also private cubicles occupied on a private basis by individuals or families at their own expense. Individual cubicles were only allowed after shelters could cater for the whole population.

The Museum is very interesting and shows the tribulations the Maltese people, who stayed in Malta during World War II, had to suffer.

That was our last day in Malta and our last trip for this year. Roll on 2025.

Words and photos: Copyright John Cruse 2024

On our fifth day we were visiting the medieval and Roman capital of Malta, Mdina and Rabat. In Roman times these were two parts of the same city but in early medieval times the old Roman city walls were replaced by a shorter circuit creating the separation into Mdina and Rabat. Mdina is one of Malta’s most visited site and when you visit there you can see why.

Mdina became home to Malta’s medieval nobility and its quiet winding alleys and narrow streets have a delightful mix of medieval and baroque architecture. Mdina continued to be the capital of Malta until the arrival of the Order of St John in 1530 when Birgu, on the opposite side of the Grand Harbour to modern day Valletta, took over.

Mdina is quiet as only the cars of the residents or businesses, emergency vehicles and wedding cars are allowed to enter. We were told that only 88 residents still permanently live in Mdina and they are an ageing population where the properties have been passed down through the family.

As you leave Mdina you are immediately into Rabat which is the modern looking area of the Mdina/Rabat area with a population of between 11,000 and 12,000. Just outside the entrance to Mdina is the Domus Romana, Malta’s best Roman archaeology.

Domus Romana is now outside the walls of Mdina but would have been close to the centre of the earlier Roman capital. The site was accidentally discovered in 1881 and the Roman Town House sheds light on the private life and habits of a Roman aristocrat. The antiquities, including the remaining marble pieces, found at the site are in the museum which is part of the site. The town house still has some mosaics in situ which are further evidence of the high status of the occupant.

A last visit of the day was to St Paul’s Catacombs which served as a burial ground in the Punic, Roman and Byzantine times and represent the earliest and largest archaeological evidence of Christianity in Malta.

The catacombs form a typical complex of interconnected underground Roman cemeteries that were in use up to the 7th and possibly 8th centuries AD. The area has more than 30 hypogea, of which the main complex comprises a system of interconnected passages and tombs that cover an area of more than 2000 square metres.

The main halls of the catacombs are equipped with circular tables set in a low platform, which were probably used to host commemorative meals during the annual festival of the dead.

There was a small museum at the site which displayed some of the burial goods.

The catacombs were very interesting to see and set us up for our visit the next day to the World Heritage site, The Hypogeum.

Words and photos: Copyright John Cruse 2024

Day four saw us heading to the island of Gozo, which lies very close to Malta. It takes the ferry roughly 30 minutes to reach Gozo and passes the island of Comino in the process. Comino is only 1.4 square miles.

Comino was apparently inhabited by farmers in Roman times but for long periods in its history has been sparsely populated or entirely abandoned. Its rugged coastline with limestone cliffs and deep caves were popular with pirates and marauders in the Middle Ages. Today there are only two people living permanently on Comino after the deaths of two other residents in the last seven years. Ferries do go to Comino and many people visit it for a day trip. The small hotel we understood was being rebuilt so this may help increase the permanent population of the island at some time in the future.

Gozo by contrast is 26 square miles with the largest settlement being the main town, Victoria, originally called Rabat but renamed in the honour of Queen Victoria in her Golden Jubilee year of 1887.

Our first visit of the day was to the Gigantija Neolithic Temple which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This is the earliest dated of all the Maltese Temples (3600 BC) and can be said to herald the dawn of megalithic temple building in Europe. The site is remarkably well preserved for its age and a museum has recently been opened. There are two temples with an incomplete third. The temples are built in the typical cloverleaf design with the inner facing blocks making the shape. A series of semi-circular apses is connected by a central passage. It is believed that the apses were originally roofed. Researchers have found numerous figurines and statues that they believe are connected to the fertility rites associated with the cult at that time.

After visiting the Gigantija Temples we had lunch at Xlendi which is an attractive harbour town.

After lunch in Xlendi we returned to Victoria as it has a citadel which has evidence of prehistoric occupation. By medieval times it could accommodate the entire population of Gozo in times of threat.

The fortification we see today was begun by the Knights of St John after the devastating Ottoman raid on Gozo in 1551.

Gozo seemed a bit less busy than Malta and is a nice place to visit. Many tourist make the ferry trip across from Malta and although boarding the ferry was a bit chaotic there were plenty of seats on deck to enjoy the views. They have an interesting ticketing system where it is free to go across from Malta, but you have to buy a ticket to return.

Words and photos: Copyright John Cruse 2024

Our third day was spent in the south of Malta visiting the Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Archaeological Park, and the Clapham Junction cart ruts with a lunchtime visit to the Blue Grotto.

Hagar Qim is situated on top of a promontory with a fertile plain to its east and a garrigue sloping down to the sea to the west. One finds Mnajdra a short walk downhill from Hagar Qim. The late Neolithic site of Hagar Qim consists of a group of monumental megalithic buildings and is unusual with features and doorways along its external walls.

Doorways inside the buildings are either trilithon, built with two upright stone blocks with a lintel and threshold, or an opening cut into a single megalith known as a porthole doorway.

It is believed that part of these buildings were covered by a corralled roof which was made by successive courses of megaliths, each one smaller than the one below. Hagar Qim has the largest stone so far found in any of these Maltese Neolithic temples, which is 20 tonnes.

A short walk down the hill towards the sea are the Mnajdra Temples. Mnajdra consists of three buildings constructed in both globigerina and coralline limestone. The first and oldest structure is the small three apsed structure with the south building being next to be completed and the central building being constructed on an artificial platform between the two earlier buildings. The south building’s doorway is aligned with sunrise during the spring and summer equinoxes.

Soon after their excavation these temples became national icons appearing on Maltese stamps and coins. The site also has a small museum and audio-visual show.

Our next stop was the Blue Grotto which is on the south coast of Malta not far from the Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Temples. It is on the general tourist schedule so can be very busy, but we were lucky that there was no queues for the boat rides to view the sea caves of the Blue Grotto. It is a nice spot and there are many restaurants for a good seafood lunch.

After lunch we made the short trip to an “off the beaten track” location to see the cart ruts of the area called Misrah Ghar il-Kbir which is also known as Clapham Junction. It is reported that the Clapham Junction nickname was given by an archaeologist, David H Trump, who said it reminded him of the busy railway station in London.

There is a complex network of cart ruts in this area in the limestone. It is unclear as to the age and purpose of these ruts although there are numerous theories. There are similar tracks in a number of sites on both major islands of Malta and Gozo. It has been suggested that they may have been used in different periods for different activities. It seems unlikely that the true reason for these ruts will ever be unearthed.

Words and photos: Copyright John Cruse 2024

Day two consisted of a walking tour of Valletta, the capital of Malta. The walled city of Valletta is on a peninsula and was built by Grand Master Jean Parisot de Valette after the Great Siege victory by the Knights of St John over the Ottoman’s in 1565. The foundation stone of the city was laid by the Grand Master on 28 March 1566. The stone became part of Our Lady of Victories Church.

The walled city of Valletta was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980. Its Baroque architecture is due to Pope Pius V’s own military architect, Francesco Laparelli, being employed to create, with financial support from Phillip II of Spain, a city for Catholic Europe’s noblest families – “a city built by gentlemen for gentlemen”.

Our first stop was St John’s Co-Cathedral which is dedicated to St John the Baptist and built by the Order of St John between 1573 and 1578. The Co-Cathedral is famous for displaying two of Michelangelo Merisi’s (known as Carravaggio) paintings when he was in Malta. Caravaggio apparently had a hot temper and whilst in Rome in 1606, killed a man in one of his many brawls. The Roman authorities issued a “bando capitale” on his head and he fled to Naples outside of their jurisdiction. He left Naples after a successful spell of commissions and travelled to Malta arriving in July 1607. Caravaggio was accepted into the folds of the Order of St John and Grandmaster Alof de Wignacourt accepted him as a Knight of Obedience. They knew of his past but were able to get papal permission to accept him into the Order. Caravaggio painted the “Beheading of St John” and “St Jerome writing”, both of which are preserved in the St John’s Co-Catherdral. The “Beheading of St John” is said to be the only painting signed by Caravaggio. By August 1608 Caravaggio was again involved in a brawl where a number of Knights were injured. Caravaggio escaped from Malta before his trial and was expelled from the Order in his absence.

Our next visit was the Grandmaster’s Palace which was built between the 16th and 18th centuries. During the British period it was known as the Governor’s Palace. The Palace currently houses the Office of the President of Malta and the Armoury.

The Grandmasters Palace contains some impressive rooms but the highlight is the Armoury which displays the armour of Knights of the Order of St John from the 17th and 18th century.

We then visited the National Museum of Archaeology that houses a spectacular collection of artefacts from Maltese prehistory and early history. The artefacts date back from Malta’s Neolithic period until early Phoenician period. The finds that were excavated from the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the megalithic temples and Hal Saflieni Hypogeum are in the museum, including the Sleeping Lady. The Sleeping Lady was unearthed in the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum and was thought to have been created in the Neolithic period.

Our last visit of the day was to the Upper Barrakka Gardens that have fantastic views over the Grand Harbour that sits between the Valletta peninsula and the Three Cities on the other side.

Words and photos: Copyright John Cruse 2024

Our first day consisted of a visit to a Neolithic temple, Tarxien, and the paleontological cave of Ghar Dalam in Eastern Malta.

Tarxien Temples

The Tarxien Temples were discovered in 1914 by local farmers ploughing a field. The site consists of four temples which intersect each other and were built successively over a number of years believed to be between 3800 and 2500 BC. Malta’s largest example of ‘Fat Lady’ statutory, originally 3 metres tall, was discovered in an apse of the south temple.

The bottom part of a ‘Fat Lady’ statue

The Temple was completely covered so Themistocles Zammit, the director of the National Museum, spent 3 years excavating the site. By 1920, Zammit had identified and carried out restoration work on five separate but interconnected temples which all yielded a collection of artefacts. The ‘Fat Lady’ statues are thought to be genderless so could represent a man or a woman and could be a fertility charm.

The Apse of one of the temples

A protective shelter was constructed to cover the remains in 2015 and the site, along with Malta’s other Megalithic temples, was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992.

Our archaeologist guide gave us a view regarding the purpose of the temples based on the current thinking but, apart from the artefacts found in the temples, there are no firm clues to the beliefs or reasons why the temples were built as they are. What is undeniable is the skill of the craftsmen who did the work moving heavy stone with very basic tools. These temples date back possibly before Stonehenge, which was thought to be built about 2500 BC.

For our lunch break we relocated to Marsaxlokk, a fishing village where there is a wide range of restaurants around the small harbour.

This is a nice place but very busy as many other tourist were also lunching there. Malta is a small island so getting away from the crowds is difficult.

Our afternoon stop was the Ghar Dalam cave site which contains the earliest evidence so far of humans on Malta and is thought to be Malta’s oldest prehistoric site. The animals whose bones have been found in the cave have not existed on Malta for thousands of years.

The human artefacts are dated to about 7000 years ago while the animal bones date back more than 100,000 years. Thousands of bones of an extraordinary range of animals have been unearthed and demonstrate island dwarfism such as the dwarf elephants and hippopotami. The animal bones were washed into the cave by water in the Pleistocene era, around 500,000 years ago.

A series of archaeological excavations were held in the cave in the 19th century and the cave has various layers with different animal bones. The lower layer did not contain animal bones. The Hippopotamus layer contained the bones deposited in the Pleistocene era. In the Deer layer, remains dating from 25,000 to 18,000 years ago were recovered. A sterile layer corresponding to a volcanic ash layer lies over the deer layer and the top layer. The Cultural layer holds the earliest evidence of human presence in Malta some 7,400 years ago.

There is a small museum at the entrance to the cave site that displays the bones found. This is in a Victorian style with glass cases full of bones, but is nevertheless very informative and helps understand the evolution of Malta’s environment.

Words and photos: Copyright John Cruse 2024

We were attracted to visiting Malta due to its interesting history spanning from pre-history through to the more recent second World War. Some people, we understand, visit or retire to Malta for its climate but as a beach holiday resort its has a lack of beaches and, notwithstanding the good weather, if asked I would say it is not the best option for that type of holiday. That said, the history is very interesting.

When we flew into Malta we were surprised to see how much of the island had been built up. Our local guide told us that the population of Malta had nearly doubled in his lifetime from 300,000 to nearly 600,000 at the last census. An estimated 25% of the increase, we understand, is made up of the legal migrants and their children who had come to Malta to work in the hospitality and other industries related mainly to tourism.

We stayed at St Paul’s Bay rather than in the capital, Valetta, but with Malta only being 17 miles long and 9 miles wide we were never too far from the historic sites we visited throughout the week.

During the Ice Ages of the past 2 million years, sea levels changes have sometimes isolated Malta and at other times connected Malta to Sicily with a land bridge. When sea levels were low animals, plants and people were more easily able to colonise Malta and during periods of high sea levels the population would become isolated. Cave deposits in Malta have uncovered the bones of many animals dating back to the Ice Ages such as dwarf elephants and hippos, giant swans and dormice, which developed due to the isolation resulting from the rising seas.

Fossilised dwarf elephant skeleton Ghar Dalam Museum

The earliest evidence that humans were in Malta is from the Neolithic Age from around 5000 BC where pottery and animal bones indicate that farming communities existed. The early Neolithic period in Malta (5200 to 4100BC) is subdivided by pottery styles into Ghar Dalam, Grey Skorba and Red Skorba phases. Around 3600 BC during the later Neolithic period (4200 to 2500 BC), the early farmers of Malta began building extraordinary megalithic monuments which can be divided into the Tarxien and Ggantija phases.

There are six main monument clusters across Malta and Gozo of which Tarxien, Hagar Qim and Ggantija are the best preserved. Some of their stones weight 20 tonnes and their walls typically enclose chambers with carved doorways.

Tarxien Temple, the legs of one of the fat ladies of Malta statues

About 2500 BC the temple culture of the Neolithic Age collapsed and the sites were left to crumble away. This collapse coincided with the appearance of the first metal objects on the islands heralding the Bronze Age.

The first millennium BC is marked by the arrival of the Phoenicians (800 to 218 BC) who bring knowledge of iron working with them. The Phoenicians originated from the Levant and it is thought they may have been trading in the western Mediterranean by the 9th and 10th centuries BC. They stayed for many centuries and had a considerable impact on Maltese society. The Maltese language today still holds Phoenician elements with the name of Malta possibility being derived from the Phoenicians word for “refuge”.

By the 3rd century BC a new power had entered the Mediterranean, the Romans. Rome’s interest in Malta was connected to its wars with Carthage whose commercial interest clashed with the ambitions of Rome. This led to the Punic wars during which Punic-dominated Malta surrendered to the Romans.

Rome declined in the 5th century AD and by 535 AD the islands were captured by the Byzantines. Byzantine rule from Constantinople lasted for 250 years and has left little surviving evidence in Malta other than the catacombs. The Byzantine fleet successfully defended the islands from Muslim Arab attacks until 870 AD.

The Arab period (870 to 1091 AD) brought advances in science and philosophy and new crops such as orange, lemon, date palms and sugar. They left a undoubted cultural legacy including influencing the Maltese language with many place names and surnames being a kind of Tunisian Arabic.

During the early medieval period (1091 to 1530 AD), Southern Italy was fast becoming a favourite Norman haunt. The Normans hired themselves out to Italian barons as mercenaries and, encouraged by the Pope, agreed to drive the Arabs out of Sicily and Malta. There is little trace of Norman art and architecture left in Malta although their influence is apparent in subsequent medieval buildings.

The rule of Malta passed through a succession of royal houses until in 1283 it passed to the Spanish Aragonese who enjoyed the longest rule (1283 to 1530 AD). By the early 16th century Malta found itself on the front line of conflict between the western Spanish Empire and the eastern Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans attacked on a number of occasions and the Spanish defensive solution in 1530 was to grant the islands in fief to the Order of the Knights of St John (1530 to 1798 AD). The Knights were renown for their bravery and chivalry and were in search of a new home since being ousted from Rhodes by the Ottomans. The Knights brought prosperity and stability to Malta but their status waned when the threat from the Ottomans declined. Their wealth attracted the European powers, particularly the French, who confiscated the Order’s possessions. The Knights surrendered to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798 with barely a shot fired.

Armour from the Knights period

During the Colonial period (1798 to 1964 AD) after rebellion broke out against the French, a British detachment of Nelson’s fleet arrived to help the Maltese blockade the French. After two years the French garrison capitulated and the British found themselves de facto rulers of Malta by right of conquest in 1814.

Malta became the headquarters of the British Mediterranean fleet and during the Second World War it became clear how vital Malta was to the allied war effort.

Malta was granted a constitution with a form of self government in 1947 and after a referendum in 1964, Malta gained complete independence from Britain. The last British military left Malta in 1979 and Malta joined the European Union in 2005.

Words and photos: Copyright John Cruse 2024

For our last full day we had booked a morning small bus tour that covered some areas we had not yet visited such as Europa Point which is the most southerly part of the Rock.

The lighthouse at Europa Point

From Europa Point the northern coast of Africa can be seen along with the coast of the Spanish mainland. Yet again the military strategic importance of Gibraltar can be seen here with the views across the strait and Harding’s Battery on the shoreline with the gun pointing across the strait.

Harding’s Battery was named after Sir George Harding, Chief Engineer of the British Army in 1844. It was originally armed with two 24-pounder cannons which were changed to two 32-pounders in 1863. In 1868 Colonel WFD Jervois carried out a survey of Gibraltar’s fortifications and batteries which resulted in several batteries being modified or rebuilt to accommodate the heavy Rifle Muzzle Loading (RML) guns. The original intention was to arm Harding’s Battery with a 9 inch RML on a Moncrieff disappearing mounting but this never occurred. In March 1877 work commenced to reconstruct the battery to take a 12.5inch RML on a barbette mounting which was completed in 1878. The current gun emplacement is the one constructed for the RML gun with the chamber underneath being the ammunition magazine.

We then moved on into the Nature Reserve visiting St Michael’s Cave for a second time and then the Ape’s Den, one of Gibraltar’s most iconic attractions.

A resident of Ape’s Den

Ape’s Den was the last stop on our small bus tour so we were dropped off near the WWII Tunnels for a short walk to the Great Siege Tunnels. Hopefully these will have reopened after being closed the day before. We were in luck.

The tunnelling of the Great Siege Tunnels was started in 1782 during the Great Siege (1779 to 1783) with a view of getting guns to a projection, called the Notch, on the precipitous northern face of the Rock. Sergeant Major Ince, one of the Company of Military Artificers (the forerunners to the Royal Engineers) suggested this could be done by tunnelling. Permission was granted with the tunnellers relying on brute strength, sledgehammers, crowbars and blasting with gunpowder. In five weeks, 18 men had driven a tunnel 8 feet square by 82 feet long into the Rock. It is interesting to compare this to the fully mechanised tunnelling during WWII where the tunnellers advanced 180 feet in a week.

Originally there was no intention of mounting guns in the tunnels but as fumes from the blasting was suffocating the miners, a vent was opened to let air in. It was then realised what a good embrasure this would make for a gun before reaching the goal of putting a gun on the Notch. Other embrasures were cut and by the time the Siege ended in 1783 the tunnels were 370 feet long and had four guns mounted. Tunnelling did not finish with the end of the Siege and two other galleries called Kings and Queen Lines were excavated lower down the north face of the Rock. When the Notch was eventually reached, a large chamber was excavated called St George’s Hall where a battery of seven guns was installed.

St George’s Hall

During WWII the tunnel was extended through to the other side of the Rock with the long straight extension being called the Holyland Tunnel.

The Holyland Tunnel

The Mediterranean Sea from the end of the Holyland Tunnel

After the Great Siege Tunnels we walked down to the town and made our way to our hotel for our farewell dinner before our flight home the next day.

In summary, Gibraltar is a good place for a short break for a few days particularly if you are interested in history and don’t mind a bit of steep walking.

No room for error on the Gibraltar runway

Sunset in Gibraltar

Copyright: Words and Photos John Cruse 2024

After an early breakfast we made the short walk from the hotel to the cable car having pre-booked tickets for our one-way cable car ride and entrance to the Nature Reserve.

The ride to the top of the Rock gives very good views of the Bay of Gibraltar and the town, marinas and airport of Gibraltar that are mostly situated on the Bay side of the Rock.

Map by Visit Gibraltar

The map above (that is supplied free by Visit Gibraltar) shows the whole of the Rock and surrounding areas including the Nature Reserve and the various attractions. We used this map to plan our walking tour from the top cable car station back into the Main Street of the town. It is possible to visit the viewing area at the top cable car station and return by the cable car if you do not want to walk down, but walking down gives access to all the attractions and requires a Nature Reserve ticket to be purchased as well as one for the cable car. Tickets for some of the attractions need to be purchased upon entry also.

The views from the cable car top station were spectacular particularly as the weather was clear and sunny. We arrived early in the morning and it was a bit chilly with a brisk wind but as we walked down it warmed up as we were on the Bay side of the Rock and the wind was coming from the Mediterranean Sea side.

View towards the town, airport and border with Spain

Sandy Bay beach

After we left the top cable car station we walked into the Nature Reserve and O’Hara’s Battery which is the highest point of the Rock being 426m (1400 feet). On the way we met our first Macaques that we expected would be in great numbers all over the Nature Reserve. There were only about 10 in this location and they seemed well behaved until one lady got too close and the Macaque jumped on her back and started pulling her hair.

We walked on to O’Hara’s Battery which included a steep section up to the highest point of the Rock. All the roads/paths are in good order and some are wide enough for taxis and small tour buses.

O’Hara’s Battery is named after General Charles O’Hara who was Governor of Gibraltar between 1795 and 1802. It was originally the location of an unsuccessful attempt to build a watchtower from which the garrison could see any possible enemy in Cadiz harbour, which is an incredible 100 kms (60 miles) away. As this purpose failed, the garrison began referring to the tower, amongst other names, as O’Hara’s folly. The tower survived until 1888 when it was demolished and the first 6 inch gun was mounted in 1890. This was replaced in 1901 by a 9.2 inch cannon with a range of 26km due to its height above sea level. In theory, its range would allow the gun to shoot right across the strait of Gibraltar reaching the North African shore. O’Hara’s Battery remained active during WWII with its gun last firing during a training exercise in 1976.

After we had visited O’Hara’s Battery we walked downhill to St Michael’s Cave. St Micheal’s Cave was long-believed to be bottomless and there are various stories about who lived there over many centuries. During WWII the cave was prepared as an emergency hospital but was never used as such. The cave is now open to visitors and has been used as a theatre with 600 seats since the early sixties. When one visits the cave there is a light and sound show that is projected around the main cavern.

The theatre in the main cavern

Stalactites in the Cave

After the Cave we walked the length of the Nature Reserve to Great Siege Tunnels which were dug during the Great Siege of 1779 to 1783. Due to high winds that morning, the Great Siege Tunnels were shut for safety reasons so we moved on towards the WWII tunnels further down the hill. On the way we passed the Military Heritage Centre which was also closed that day, but there was a great view over the Gibraltar airport which is interesting as a public road runs across the runway. This road is these days only open to pedestrians and bicycle riders as cars have a new road that goes around the end of the runway into the town.

The airport looking across the border into Spain

We then walked down the hill to the Lime Kiln – Willis’s Road, which had been restored by the Gibraltar National Museum and Ministry for Heritage. The Rock is a Jurassic limestone massif so the abundance of limestone has been exploited since medieval times. By the late 19th/early 20th century two kilns were built to make quicklime for use in the construction of Gibraltar’s water catchments and underground reservoirs.

The Lime Kiln

We then walked a little further to the City under Siege Exhibition in the Old Willis’s Magazine that shows what life was like for the population (who were mostly the Armed Forces) during the early years of the British occupation of the Rock. The various exhibits show life issues such as the food they ate, how punishment was administered, death and disease, and water. It is worth visiting as it gives a good overview of the challenges that the early British occupants endured. There was some interesting graffiti from the 1730s to 1760s which was carved in the lime mortar by soldiers on tedious guard duty.

Punishment 18th Century style

Our next stop was the WWII tunnels where we were told about the military significance of Gibraltar. At the start of WWII, the civilian population was evacuated to the UK and the Rock became a military garrison. With a hostile Spain next door, and the area of the Rock being so small, storage became an urgent issue so that food and equipment could be stored safely and siege accommodation could be available for troops.

New tunnels were dug by the Royal Engineers and Canadian Army. A new main base was established in the southeastern part of Gibraltar on the Mediterranean coast, which potentially shielded it from the Spanish mainland, and new tunnels were created to link this with the established military bases on the west side.

A pair of tunnels called the Great North Road and the Fosse Way were excavated running nearly the full length of the Rock to interconnect the bulk of the wartime tunnels. The entire garrison of 16,000 could be housed with enough food for 16 months. There was an underground telephone exchange, a power generating station, a water distillation plant, a hospital, a bakery, ammunition magazines and a vehicle maintenance shop all within the tunnels. The total length of the entire tunnel system in the Rock is approximately 55 kms (34 miles).

A visit to the WWII Tunnels is a must for those interested in the recent history of Gibraltar and is well worth the walk to reach it.

We then walked a short distance to the Moorish Castle. The fortifications on and around the site of the Castle were first built in 1160 or maybe earlier. These were destroyed when the Spanish re-conquered Gibraltar from 1309 to 1333. The Tower of Homage, the castle’s main feature, dominates the hillside and was rebuilt from about 1333 when Abu’l Hassan recaptured Gibraltar from the Spanish. The Tower of Homage shows the battle scars inflicted during various sieges. The courtyard of the Moorish Castle served as a prison until 2010.

The Moorish Castle

The Moorish Castle is near the lower exit of the Nature Reserve so we exited and walked down the narrow streets of the town to Main Street for a much-anticipated cup of coffee and a sit down.

After a long day we walked back to the Hotel for dinner and a discussion on our plans for Day 3.

Copyright: Words and Photos John Cruse 2024. Map: Visit Gibraltar.

We decided to take a short Monday to Friday break in April to escape the rainy UK weather and Gibraltar seemed to fit the bill. The British have been on the Rock since 1704 when it was captured by an Anglo-Dutch fleet in the War of Spanish Succession and was ceded to the British in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. Spanish Monarchs have made many unsuccessful attempts to regain Gibraltar over the years since, such as in the Great Siege of 1779 to 1783 when the Spanish and French joined forces.

Gibraltar is located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula on the Bay of Gibraltar near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the Atlantic Ocean. This makes it a strategically important location for the military, hence the miles of tunnels in the Rock dug by the military, firstly during the Great Siege and secondly during the Second World War.

Gibraltar is approximately 5 km long and 1.25 km wide so we felt that our Monday to Friday visit would give us sufficient time to see all of the delights that Gibraltar has to offer, including the infamous Macaque monkeys.

After arriving at our hotel, The Rock, by lunchtime, we found that we were just over the road from the Alameda Botanical Gardens which were established in 1816 by Lieutenant-Governor Sir George Don who was the first commander in Gibraltar since 1704 to dedicate significant resources to public well-being.

The Botanicals Gardens are small but worth a visit and contain a little wildlife conservation park with some interesting birds and monkeys.

The original layout of the Gardens remains intact and a series of guns and commemorative busts attest to the garden’s age.

The main entrance to the Botanical Gardens is next to the cable car that takes 6 minutes to transport passengers to the top of the Rock which is a Nature Reserve and includes most of the attractions in Gibraltar, such as the Apes Den, the WWII Tunnels, the Great Siege Tunnels and Moorish Castle to name a few. In addition to these attractions and the main walking paths, there are also some walking trails on the Nature Reserve map which are for those who want a more strenuous walk.

The cable car can get very busy particularly when cruise ships are in the Spanish ports nearby Gibraltar, so booking online in advance for both the cable car and nature reserve are beneficial.

Therefore we decided that for day 2, we would book in advance and board the cable car early in the morning for a one-way ride up and a walk through the nature reserve, visiting the attractions, on the way down. We didn’t realise we would be walking 7 miles that day, which was for the most part either down or uphill.

We returned to the Rock Hotel for dinner and as the sun set, we could see the lights of Spain across the Bay of Gibraltar and, if we looked left, the lights of Tangier, Morocco, which is on the northern shore of the African continent and only a 79km ferry ride away.

Copyright words and pictures: John Cruse 2024