Gibralfaro

Historia

Mount Gibralfaro, Monte Gibralfaro, is a hill located in Málaga in southeast Spain. It is a 130 m high foothill of the Montes de Málaga, part of the Cordillera Penibética.At the top of the hill stands the Castle of Gibralfaro overlooking Málaga city and the Mediterranean Sea.HistoryGibralfaro has been the site of fortifications since the Phoenician foundation of Málaga city, circa 770 BC. At the beginning of the 14th century, Yusuf I of the Kingdom of Granada constructed on its top the eponymous castle within the Phoenician enclosure. The name is said to be derived from the Phoenician word for light, Jbel-Faro, meaning "Rock of Light". The castle is famous for its three-month siege in 1487 by the Catholic monarchs, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, which ended when hunger forced the Malagueños to surrender.At the end of 2005, a thick forest of pines and eucalyptus trees were planted on the hill. On its outskirts are the historical buildings of the seminary and the Alcazaba, the Jardines de Puerta Oscura (Dark Gate Gardens), as well as a Parador.The most visible remains of the Castle today are the solid ramparts rising above the pines. In the Centro de Interpretación de Gibralfaro (Gibralfaro Interpretation Center) in the former gunpowder arsenal of the Castle is a little museum that shows the castle’s history over the centuries since the Reconquest. The castle was used as a military base until 1925.