Pelo Del Perro

A second day of touring with a visit to Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory. In the time of the Romans it was named Mons Calpe and was part of the Pillars of Hercules, the other pillar being either Mons Abyla or Jebel Musa on the African side of the Straits of Gibraltar. The Rock’s location has made it strategically important causing multiple invasions. Arabs and Berbers came over from Africa starting the Muslim 700 year occupation. This takeover was led by Tarik-ibn-Ziyad and as a monument to his victory the Rock was re-named Jebel Tarik (Mount of Tarik) which over the centuries was changed to Gibraltar. The Spanish pushed the Moors off the Rock in 1462 but lost control again during the War of Spanish Succession in 1704 to the British. Permanent control of the Rock was ceded to Brittan in 1713 and there it has remained since although Spain has made repeated attempts to get it back

There is so much to see we decided to take a private Tour to maximize our time and we are glad we did, our guide Carl is a native Gibraltarian and showed us the Rock inside and out. Highlights:

St. Michael’s Cave – Limestone caves where Neandertals lived. Concerts are now held there.
O’Hara’s Battery – Highest point on the Rock, has guns on it that can fire projectiles across the Straits into Africa.
Top of the Rock – Great view and home of many Barbary macaques.
Great Siege Tunnels – Tunnels dug by the British during one of the Spanish attempts to re-take the Rock in 1779-1983.
World War 2 Tunnels – Tunnels dug by the British during WW2.
Europa Point – Southern end of Gibraltar.

Ok we are tired. Down day next!

The road into Gibraltar closed due to a plane taking off. Look carefully for it!

The view from O’Hara’s Battery. The land where the gun is pointing is Morocco, the land on the very right is Spain.

The view of the east side of the rock from O’Hara’s Battery.

Inside St. Michael’s Cave.

Syd gets a visit from one of the Barbary macaques living on the rock. No worries about sanitation, the monkeys are quite well cared for including full medical attention.

Top of the Rock. The mountains on the far side of the water are in Morocco.

A male Barbary macaque on his iPhone. Technically it belonged to someone else but he borrowed it to check Instagram.
Just Kidding.

Syd takes the lead in the Great Siege Caves.

Inside the WW2 tunnels.

The Government Seat of Gibraltar.

Oops…

Walking down Main St in Gibraltar.

The view from the rock across the airport into Spain. Note the road in is closed for a plane.

The view of the rock from Europa Point. O’Hara’s Battery is on top of the peak on the right.

Beach on the east side of Gibraltar. Full on a Saturday afternoon.

Top of Gibraltar. – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA

Aimed at Morocco. – Spherical Image – RICOH THETA

So today we got busy with a drive to Córdoba. I will admit that I was a bit nervous about today, the drive (according to Google Maps) was about 2.5 hours in each direction to a city with a UNESCO World Heritage Site meaning busy with tourists. And we are still jet-lagged. But actually it went quite smooth, drive out was closer to 2 hours and for such a nice town it was a rather slow day, we where able to park easily and no crushing crowds. Grateful but where are the visitors?

Our main stop was The Mosque–Cathedral of Córdoba, a very unique church. Started as a church it was both a mosque and a church for a while when Muslims conquered Spain in 711. This lasted ~70 years then the church was bought out and construction began on the original Grand Mosque. The mosque was expanded several times over the centuries and became its current size around 994. After Córdoba was conquered by King Ferdinand III the mosque was converted into a Catholic church and construction began down this path and continued until the late 18th century. Still used as a church, Muslims recently have been asking for permission to start worshiping inside again and have been denied by Spain and the Vatican.

The multiple expansions by different groups over many centuries gave this church a unique look. The arch design was influenced by aqueducts and triumphal arches in Rome and gave the building an open feeling in spite of its size. Interestingly not all the arches are made the same, The first construction was traditionally done with alternating white and red stones comprising the arches while the last expansion was “done on the cheap” and the arches are a single piece painted to look like stone to resemble the older parts of the building. Look in the pictures, you may be able to see the difference.

The drive back and jet lag kept us from hanging in Cordoba much after lunch so a revisit will be necessary. This is how trips get started…