- Type
- Fortress
- Built
- c. 1497 · 15th century
- Location
- Melilla, Spain
- Style
- military architecture
- Coordinates
- 35.2940°, -2.9340°
History
The town, known in antiquity as Phoenician and then Roman Rusadir, was taken in 1497 by an expedition under Pedro de Estopiñán, sent by the Duke of Medina Sidonia with the consent of the Catholic Monarchs. The Spaniards found the settlement abandoned and set about fortifying it almost at once. Between the 16th and 18th centuries four successive rings of fortifications, the recintos, were built on the rocky headland, separated by moats and linked by gates. The fortress beat off many attacks, the hardest being the siege by Sultan Muhammad ibn Abdallah of Morocco in 1774–1775. When the town spread beyond the walls in the late 19th century, the old citadel, which locals call El Pueblo, became its historic heart.
What to see
The Santiago Gate, bearing the arms of Charles V, opens onto a maze of narrow lanes, squares and bastions. Inside the citadel stand the Church of the Purísima Concepción, the underground cisterns of Aljibes de las Peñuelas and museums housed in old military buildings. The walls and terraces look out over the harbour, the new town with its modernist buildings and the coast of Morocco.
Wikipedia article Wikidata Q6812419
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