The Moorish Castle in Gibraltar played a prominent part in the Arab conquest of the Iberian Peninsula

Construction of the Moorish Castle at Gibraltar was commenced in the 8th century AD, but there is no record of when it was completed. Its walls enclosed a considerable area reaching down from the upper part of the Rock of Gibraltar down to the sea. The most conspicuous parts of the Castle now remaining are the upper tower, or Tower of Homage, together with various terraces and battlements below it, and the massive Gate House, with its cupola roof.

Gibraltar has always been of special significance to the numerous peoples and civilisations that have visited or occupied it over the ages, from the Neanderthal period, through the Classical and on to the Moorish, Spanish and the present British occupations.

The Moorish occupation is, by far, the longest in Gibraltar's recorded history, having lasted from 711 to 1309 and then from 1350 to 1462, a total of 710 years. In 1068, the Arab Governor of Algeciras, the city on the west side of the Bay of Gibraltar, ordered that a fort be built on "Jebel Tarik" (Gibraltar) to guard and watch events on the other side of the Strait.

The importance of Gibraltar to both Moslems and Christians lies in the fact that the Moorish invasion and occupation of Europe started from Gibraltar in 711 and, through to its final re-capture by Spain in 1462, Moorish rule was gradually undermined till, with the fall of Granada in 1492, the Moorish occupation of Europe came to an end after an uninterrupted 781 years.

The Tower of Homage is the highest tower of the Islamic period in the Iberian Peninsula, and the Castle's Qasbah is the largest in the area.

The Moorish Castle itself played a prominent part in the Arab conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, which overran a large portion of it in two years - an invasion which led to Arab domination over part of Europe for over seven centuries. It is therefore of great heritage significance not only to Gibraltar and Iberia but also to Europe.

The present Tower of Homage, and most of what is visible today of the castle, was rebuilt during the second Moorish period of occupation in the early 14th century, after its near destruction during a reconquest of Gibraltar by the Moors following a brief reoccupation by Spain (from 1309 to 1333).

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