The Mediterranean: Its Storied Cities and Venerable RuinsAllen, Grant
History
The Mediterranean: Its Storied Cities and Venerable Ruins
Allen, Grant
Europe, Southern -- Description and travel; Mediterranean Region -- Description and travel
Undoubtedly, the King's Bastion is the center of historic military
interest in Gibraltar, but the line-wall should be followed along its
impregnable front to complete one's conception of the sea defenses of the
great fortress. A little farther on is Government House, the quondam
convent, which now forms the official residence of the Governor; and
farther still the landing-place, known as Ragged Staff Stairs. Then
Jumper's Bastion, already mentioned; and then the line of fortification,
running outwards with the coast line towards the New Mole and
landing-place, returns upon itself, and rounding Rosia Bay trends again
southward towards Buena Vista Point. A ring of steel indeed--a coat of
mail on the giant's frame, impenetrable to the projectiles of the most
terrible of the modern Titans of the seas. The casemates for the artillery
are absolutely bomb-proof, the walls of such thickness as to resist the
impact of shots weighing hundreds of pounds, while the mighty arches
overhead are constructed to defy the explosion of the heaviest shells. As
to its offensive armament, the line-wall bristles with guns of the largest
caliber, some mounted on the parapet above, others on the casemates nearer
the sea-level, whence their shot could be discharged with the deadliest
effect at an attacking ship.
He who visits Gibraltar is pretty sure, at least if time permits, to visit
Algeciras and San Roque, while from farther afield still he will be
tempted by Estepona. The first of these places he will be in a hurry,
indeed, if he misses; not that the place itself is very remarkable, as
that it stands so prominently in evidence on the other side of the bay as
almost to challenge a visit. Add to this the natural curiosity of a
visitor to pass over into Spanish territory and to survey Gibraltar from
the landward side, and it will not be surprising that the four-mile trip
across the bay is pretty generally made. On the whole it repays; for
though Algeciras is modern and uninteresting enough, its environs are
picturesque, and the artist will be able to sketch the great rock-fortress
from an entirely new point, and in not the least striking of its aspects.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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