Castle of Gibralfaro
The magnificent Castillo de Gibralfaro sits on a high hill overlooking Malaga city and port, and dates back to the 10th century. The image of Gibralfaro is well known: you can see it in both Malaga city and province’s seal and flag. The hill where the Gibralfaro is situated forms part of the Montes de Malaga mountain range, located to the east and north of Malaga city – this land is protected by the Montes’ natural park status.
The place name derives from the Arabic word “jabal”, meaning mountain, and from the Greek “faruh” (lighthouse). According to some experts this indicates that the mountain was probably used since the Phoenician-Punic era as a coastal lookout.
History
The castle was built in 929AD by Abd-al-Rahman III, Caliph of Cordoba, on a former Phoenician enclosure and lighthouse. Yusef 1, Sultan of Granada, enlarged it at the beginning of the 14th century, also adding the double wall down to the Alcazaba.
The castle is famous for its three-month siege by the Catholic monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, which ended only when hunger forced the Malagueños to surrender. Afterwards Ferdinand occupied the site, while his queen took up residence in the town. Another important aspect of siege was that this was the first conflict in which gunpowder was used by both sides.
Historians agree that inside the castle there was a mosque that, after the conquest of the city, came to be used as a Christian temple that ceased to exist due to the military use that was made of the fortress until the first years of the twentieth century. Inside it is found the Arabic-era Pozo Airón (Airón Well), which is more than 40 metres deep and dug out of the rock, several cisterns, two bakery ovens, guard booths from the modern era and the former powder magazine structure in which the fortress’ Interpretive Centre is now housed.
Coracha Wall
The outer gate of the Gibralfaro castle opens into the remarkable ‘coracha’ or walled corridor leading down the hillside to the town and royal palace known as Alcazaba below. A further gate and barbican in the coracha at this point allows access to the exterior of the site and the road to Granada.
The coracha is probably the most interesting aspect of the whole complex due to its unusual nature. The topography of the site however left the Gibralfaro isolated from the lower city and Alcazaba. The ingenious solution was to create a linking fortified walled corridor between the two with strong defensive entrance gates in both fortifications.
Today the sea has retreated considerably leaving much low ground between the Alcazaba and the present harbour but in medieval times the sea would have been beneath the castle walls. The area between the castle walls and harbour is lined with shady trees and other plants and castle offers a wonderful view of the city of Malaga below.
