Exploring the Old Quarter, the Upper Town & the Northern Defenses

Gibraltar is steeped in history but because of its strategic location as the meeting point of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean it was considered the key to the Mediterranean. Those that captured Gibraltar did not want to lose it for this reason and therefore Gibraltar’s fortifications span the 3 distinct eras, the Moorish, the Spanish and the British.

This walking tour explores this history and will take you back in time to discover the old quarter with its unique architecture, the original city of Gibraltar built on the slopes of the Rock itself. The Upper Town area and the Northern Defences which are a collection of fortifications built mainly during the Moorish and British Era to defend Gibraltar from advances from Spain. The advent of the Second World War saw these defences developed into an intelligent system of defence, extending the Great Siege Tunnels built by the British Soldier Artificers, the forefathers of the Royal Engineers