Mount Gibralfaro, es, Monte Gibralfaro, is a hill located in

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most po ...

in southeast

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. It is a 130 m high foothill of the

Montes de Málaga Montes de Málaga is a mountain range of the Penibaetic System in Málaga Province, Andalusia, Spain. Its highest point is the 1,030 m high Cresta de la Reina peak. Other notable peaks are San Antón, Coronado, Monte Victoria and Gibralfaro. T ...

, part of the

Cordillera Penibética The Penibaetic System ( es, Sistema Penibético or ''Cordillera Penibética'') is the southernmost of the three systems of mountain ranges of the Baetic System in the southern Iberian Peninsula. It includes the highest point in the peninsula, 3 ...

. At the top of the hill stands the Castle of Gibralfaro overlooking

city and the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

, and connected by a walled corridor to the

Alcazaba of Málaga The Alcazaba ( ar, القصبة) is a palatial fortification in Málaga, Spain, built during the period of Muslim-ruled Al-Andalus. The current complex was begun in the 11th century and was modified or rebuilt multiple times up to the 14th centur ...

History

Gibralfaro has been the site of fortifications since the

Phoenicia Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their his ...

n foundation of Málaga city, circa 770 BC. The location was fortified by Caliph

Abd-al-Rahman III ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥakam al-Rabdī ibn Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Dākhil () or ʿAbd al-Rahmān III (890 - 961), was the Umayyad Emir of Córdoba from 912 to 92 ...

in 929 CE. At the beginning of the 14th century,

Yusuf I Abu al-Hajjaj Yusuf ibn Ismail ( ar, أبو الحجاج يوسف بن إسماعيل; 29 June 131819 October 1354), known by the regnal name al-Muayyad billah (, "He who is aided by God"), was the seventh Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Grana ...

of the

Kingdom of Granada ) , common_languages = Official language:Classical ArabicOther languages: Andalusi Arabic, Mozarabic, Berber, Ladino , capital = Granada , religion = Majority religion:Sunni IslamMinority religions:Roman ...

expanded the fortifications within the Phoenician lighthouse enclosure and erected a double wall to the Alcazaba. The name is said to be derived from

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

, Jbel,

rock or mount Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, and Greek the word for

light Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm), corresponding to frequencies of 750–420 t ...

, Jbel-Faro, meaning "Rock of Light". The castle is famous for its three-month

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

in 1487 by the

Catholic monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...

, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, which ended when hunger forced the Arabs to surrender. Fale - Spain - Malaga - 5

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. At the end of 2005, a thick forest of

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family (biology), family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanic ...

s and

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as ...

trees were planted on the hill. On its outskirts are the historical buildings of the seminary and the

Alcazaba A kasbah (, also ; ar, قَـصَـبَـة, qaṣaba, lit=fortress, , Maghrebi Arabic: ), also spelled qasba, qasaba, or casbah, is a fortress, most commonly the citadel or fortified quarter of a city. It is also equivalent to the term ''alca ...

, the ''Jardines de Puerta Oscura'' (Dark Gate Gardens), as well as a

Parador A ''parador'' (), in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries was an establishment where travelers could seek lodging, and usually, food and drink, similar to an inn. In Spain since 1928, a Parador is a state-owned luxury hotel, usually locat ...

. Currently pending approval is a project intended to safeguard the mount and its surroundings from any urban intervention and promote it as a space for public recreation. Another project is planned to build a cable car linking the city center with the Gibralfaro castle.Impulso al plan para proteger el Monte Gibralfaro y potenciar su uso cultural - Málaga Hoy
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Geology

Gibralfaro is part of the southern foothills of the

, a mountain range of the

, formed of materials from the Maláguide complex of the

Baetic Cordillera The Baetic System or Betic System ( es, Sistema Bético) is one of the main systems of mountain ranges in Spain. Located in the southern and eastern Iberian Peninsula, it is also known as the Cordilleras Béticas (Baetic Mountain Ranges) or B ...

References

{{reflist :''This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the

Spanish Wikipedia The Spanish Wikipedia ( es, Wikipedia en español) is a Spanish-language edition of Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia. It has articles. Started in May 2001, it reached 100,000 articles on March 8, 2006 and 1,000,000 articles on May 16, 2013 ...

External links

Malaga City - Gibralfaro Castle
Penibaetic System Landforms of Andalusia Hills of Spain