England · Restored
Moorish Castle
The Moorish Castle is a medieval fortification on the Rock of Gibraltar centred on a tall Tower of Homage, an extensive qasbah (citadel) and a massive Gate House with a cupola roof. Its walls and terraces step down the Rock toward the sea and enclose a cluster of defensive buildings and courtyards. Much of what is visible today dates to a rebuilding in the early 14th century.
Its prime
1333
Today
Restored
As it stood in 1333
What Moorish Castle looked like in its prime.
A massive, square Tower of Homage rises from terraces and stepped curtain walls that descend the Rock of Gibraltar toward the sea. Below the tower are crenellated battlements and a large open qasbah area; the principal Gate House presents a substantial arched entrance topped by a domed cupola. The ensemble is built of exposed medieval masonry with terraces, parapets and connecting walls conforming to the steep rocky slope.
Its story
The story of Moorish Castle.
The Landing of 711 and the First Walls
The Moorish conquest of Iberia was led by Tarik ibn Ziyad and Musa ibn Nusayr, who may have landed in Europe at or near Gibraltar. From that foothold the Rock became the stepping-stone to the conquest of most of Iberia and part of France — a feat of arms accomplished in a mere twenty-one years. Construction of the castle commenced in the 8th century, possibly in AD 711 itself; the date of its completion is not recorded. Its walls enclosed a considerable area, reaching down from the upper part of the Rock of Gibraltar to the sea.
Lost, Retaken and Rebuilt, 1309–1333
Spanish forces seized Gibraltar in 1309 and held it for twenty-four years. When the Moors retook the Rock in 1333, the castle was left near destruction, and the Tower of Homage and most of what stands today were rebuilt in the early 14th century. The work is credited to the Marinid dynasty — which makes the castle unique in the Iberian Peninsula, though it is sometimes compared to the alcazars of nearby Spain. The rebuilt Tower of Homage is the highest tower surviving from the period of Islamic rule in the peninsula, and the castle's qasbah is the largest in the area.
The fortress mattered most in the closing years of Moorish rule. After the Spanish reconquest of the entire Guadalquivir valley, Gibraltar became one of the key links in communication between the Emirate of Granada and the Moorish domains of north-western Africa.
Seven Centuries of Muslim Rule, Then a Prison
Muslim occupation is by far the longest in Gibraltar's recorded history — from 711 to 1309 and again from 1333 to 1462, a total of 727 years. Under British rule the castle found a more prosaic use: part of it housed the prison of Gibraltar until the prison was relocated in 2010. The castle appears on the reverse of the 1995 design of the Gibraltar five-pound banknote, and "Moorish Castle" names the residential area around it as well as the fortress itself.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1333.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Moorish Castle, including 1 interior: interior chamber of the castle (area later used as a prison). Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Moorish Castle with AI to explore it.
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