| | Overview (Source: Frommers) |
20km (12 miles) E of Algeciras, 77km (48 miles) SW of Marbella Where else would you find a town that is also a country? Gibraltar is only 5.8 sq. km (2 1/4 sq. miles) in size, but it has its own airport, currency, postage stamps, naval and military garrisons, two cathedrals, its own newspapers, radio, and TV -- and a casino. "The Rock" enjoys a pleasant climate and has a recorded history dating from A.D. 711 and traces of cave occupation 40,000 years ago. The Rock of Gibraltar is a massive limestone rock rising out of the sea to a height of 425m (1,396 ft.). It is often referred to as the Gateway to the Mediterranean and was originally a Phoenician trading post called Calpe. In Greek mythology it was the northern bastion of the Pillars of Hercules. Abyla (now Jebel Musa at Ceuta) was the southern bastion. Hercules is said to have stood with a foot on each "pillar," pushed them apart, and formed a bridge across the straits. During Phoenician domination of the Mediterranean, it was recorded that Calpe was the end of the world, the point beyond which no trader should venture. In 711, a Berber called Tariq ibn-Ziyad landed and named the Rock "Gibel Tarik" (mountain of Tarik), from which the name of Gibraltar is derived. The Rock was captured from the Moors in 1309 by the marauding Guzman El Bueno and then recaptured by the Moors in 1333. In 1462 Spain seized and fortified the Rock against further attack but, in 1704, during the Spanish War of Succession, a joint An
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