Gibraltar: A City Under Siege
Restored eighteenth-century military complex with cisterns, magazines, a watchtower and soldiers’ graffiti, interpreted through exhibitions on the Great Siege.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
The site lies inside the Upper Rock Nature Reserve a short walk from the Second World War tunnels. A recent programme of clearance, excavation and conservation uncovered original features of the eighteenth-century complex: drainage systems, water channels, wells, defensive walls and the remains of a watchtower with surviving machicolations that defended the approaches below.
One of the most striking results is the conservation of a large collection of graffiti carved into the walls by soldiers stationed on the Rock between the early eighteenth and late nineteenth centuries. Hundreds of names, regimental marks, ships, scenes and symbols have been recorded and preserved.
The work also showed how the complex developed over time. Areas used as shot yards, powder laboratories, magazines, guard rooms and later military stores have been identified, along with the rainwater collection systems and underground cisterns that kept the garrison supplied. Exhibitions, displays of finds made in Gibraltar and personal accounts of soldiers, engineers and civilians now tell the story of bombardment, disease and hunger during the Great Siege of 1779 to 1783.
Highlights
- Conserved soldiers’ graffiti from the 18th and 19th centuries
- Eighteenth-century cisterns, wells and water channels
- Remains of a watchtower with machicolations
- Former shot yards, powder laboratories and magazines
- Operated by
- Gibraltar Nature Reserve (Department of the Environment, HM Government of Gibraltar)
Admission & discounts
| Adults | £30 |
|---|---|
| Children & teens | £22free up to age 4 · Children aged 5 to 11 pay £22; anyone over 11 pays the adult price. |
Admission is included in the Upper Rock Nature Reserve ticket (adult £30, child aged 5 to 11 £22, free for children aged 4 and under), which is valid for the whole day and covers all the attractions in the Reserve. Holders of the Gibraltar red ID card and currently serving members of the British Armed Forces enter free. Tickets are sold at the Reserve entrances (Moorish Castle, Jews’ Gate, Devil’s Gap) and at the Market Place bus station.
Accessibility
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Kids & families
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Getting there & parking
By public transit
Willis’s Road terminus (bus 1) · 5-min walk
Bus 1 runs from the Market Place terminus to the Willis’s Road terminus; the Reserve entrance at the Moorish Castle is a short walk up the road.
By car
No on-site parking at the museum.
Only locally registered vehicles (and vehicles displaying a Blue Badge) may enter the Nature Reserve.
On foot, the walk from Casemates Square takes about 15 to 20 minutes; follow the signs to the Moorish Castle. Reserve tickets can also be combined with a cable car ride (the top station is currently closed for refurbishment).
Get directionsAmenities & dining
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Events & venue rental
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