Did you know…?

It is a fortified road that connects the alcazaba with Gibralfaro, built to protect the communication between both fortifications. It was the only access point to the castle; if you wanted to reach it you had to cross the entire alcazaba, the coracha and at the end of this corridor there was a monumental gate in a barbican tower. The coracha had a dual purpose: to allow the safe transfer of troops and supplies between the Alcazaba, located on a lower hill, and the Castle of Gibralfaro, at the top of the hill of the same name, as well as to make access difficult for possible invaders.

Built during the Nasrid period, in the 14th century, under the rule of Yusuf I, the coracha consists of a double wall with intermediate towers to reinforce it.

The coracha is therefore an example of the advanced Islamic military architecture of the period and an integral part of Malaga’s defensive system.

is a well that is established inside the castle, 40 metres deep and dug in the rock of the mountain. It reached a natural spring that supplied it and that still has water today. Thanks to this well, a waterwheel and the rainwater collection system that used irrigation channels to carry the water to the cisterns, water was supplied to the entire fortification.

The Arab people established a system of cisterns, most of which were underground and covered with brick vaults, except for the largest of them, which was built in the centre of the castle with an octagonal plan. For this purpose, the Arab people established a system of cisterns, most of which were underground and covered with brick vaults, except for the largest of them, which was built in the centre of the castle with an octagonal floor plan, and the airón well. These water-storage facilities are connected to rainwater collection systems by means of irrigation ditches. Thanks to all this engineering work, the castle was able to withstand the prolonged siege by Christian troops.

After the conquest of the city by the Catholic kings, such is the admiration for this fortress that Isabella and Ferdinand made it a symbol of the city. On 30th August 1494, Malaga was granted its coat of arms, which included the fortress as a whole, the captives’ corral and the images of the patron saints San Ciriaco and Santa Paula on its towers, with the waves of the sea at the bottom.

One of the few buildings inside the walled perimeter of Gibralfaro is a Muslim temple. Jeronimo Munzer visited Malaga in 1494 and described that in Gibralfaro there was ¨a very beautiful royal mosque and some notable examples of Moorish style mosaics¨. Martín de Roa in 1622 identified it as the church of San Luis, since the Catholic Monarchs, on taking the city on the feast of San Luis the bishop, transformed it into a Christian temple, consecrating it to this saint. And lastly, Francis Carter in his 1772 work entitled Viaje de Gibraltar a Málaga (Journey from Gibraltar to Malaga) tells us that he saw a square mosque with the doors covered in bronze and the walls with stucco mouldings and verses from the Koran. The location of this ancient mosque is where the powder magazine was later established, as can be seen in the plans preserved in the General Archive of Simancas.

used in the construction of the walls of Gibralfaro Castle is an ancient building technique using compacted earth. This method was widely used in the Islamic world, including the Iberian Peninsula during the Andalusian period, because of its efficiency, low cost and availability of local materials.

Tapial consists of a wooden formwork that defines the desired thickness and height of the wall, into which a mixture of earth, lime, gravel and water is deposited. Once the mixture has been poured in layers, it is intensely compacted using tampers or similar tools to make it solid and resistant. This process is repeated until the desired height of the wall is reached. Once finished, the formwork is removed and the hardened wall is exposed.

The use of lime in the mix increases the durability of the rammed earth and protects it from weather erosion. Although at first glance the material appears fragile, once consolidated, the tapial becomes surprisingly strong and resistant, ideal for the military defences of the period.

At Gibralfaro Castle, the tapial was plastered to regularise the external appearance and painted to imitate ashlars. On other occasions it was covered with a masonry veneer.

are the raised parts of the wall alternating with the open spaces known as battlements. In essence, merlons are the massive blocks protruding from the top of the walls, designed to provide protection for defenders during attacks.

In a defensive context, merlons allowed soldiers to hide behind them while keeping watch or firing arrows, spears or other weapons through the battlements, which are the gaps between merlons. These blocks protected the defenders from enemy projectiles and provided strategic cover while continuing to defend the fortress.

is the road or passageway running along the top of the ramparts, designed so that soldiers could patrol and defend the fortress. It is a raised corridor that allows access to the battlements and merlons, from where the defenders could monitor their surroundings, fire projectiles and hurl objects at attackers.

In the case of Gibralfaro Castle, the adarve played a fundamental role in the defensive system, as it allowed the guards to move quickly from one part of the walls to another, guaranteeing a constant defence at any point of the fortification. This elevated passageway also provided a strategic advantage by being high up, facilitating observation of the surrounding area and allowing visual control of both the city of Malaga and the port.