Fig Tree Cave is a cave in the

British Overseas Territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs) or alternatively referred to as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are the fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom that, ...

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. It is located on the eastern cliffs of the

Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabal Ṭāriq , meaning "Mountain of Tariq ibn Ziyad, Tariq") is a monolithic limestone mountain high dominating the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It is situated near the end of a nar ...

, not far from Martin's Cave within the Upper Rock Nature Reserve. It is listed in the Heritage and Antiquities Act 2018 by the Government of Gibraltar.

History

According to former

Governor of Gibraltar The governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the British monarch in the British overseas territories, British overseas territory of Gibraltar. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the British government. The role of ...

, William Jackson,

Simón Susarte Simón Rodríguez Susarte, commonly known as Simón Susarte, was a Spanish goatherd from Gibraltar, who in 1704 aided a Bourbon Spanish attempt to seize Gibraltar during the Twelfth Siege of Gibraltar by revealing a concealed path to the attac ...

, a recently exiled goatherd, led 500 Spanish troops up the east side of Gibraltar to reclaim the Rock following the

Anglo Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to, or descent from England, English culture, the English people or the English language, such as in the term ''Anglosphere''. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British d ...

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

Capture of Gibraltar The capture of Gibraltar by Anglo-Dutch forces of the Grand Alliance occurred between 1 and 4 August 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession. Since the beginning of the war the Alliance had been looking for a harbour in the Iberian Penins ...

in 1704. The troops spent the night of 10 November 1704, on the east side of the Rock in this cave and Martin's Cave before ascending Middle Hill the next day. The invasion ended badly as ammunition ran out and reinforcements failed to arrive. However Martin's Cave was not discovered for another 100 years. In the 1860s, Captain Frederic Brome, the then Governor of the Military Prison on Windmill Hill, Gibraltar, sought permission from the

to explore Poca Roca Cave, as well as St. Michael's Cave, Martin's Cave and this cave, with the objective of finding archaeological evidence of the past use of these caves. The Governor agreed to allow ten prisoners to begin work at Martin's Cave. The entrance to the cave is small, widening to a shape high and roughly by . A path falls away at a 40-degree angle but ends in a muddy pit. The wildlife in the cave is very similar to that in nearby Martin's Cave. The cave is located within the Upper Rock Nature Reserve.

Today

In 2018 this cave was included in the caves listed in the Heritage and Antiquities Act by the Government of Gibraltar, noting that Fig Tree Cave No.2 was an archaeological site.

References

{{Caves of Gibraltar Caves of Gibraltar