Having endured fourteen sieges since Gibraltar was first settled in the 11th century, the Moors, the Spanish, and the British have built successive layers of fortifications and defences including walls, bastions, casemates, gun batteries, magazines, tunnels and galleries. Field Marshal Sir John Chapple, a former Governor, describes Gibraltar as being “probably the most fought over and most densely fortified place in Europe, and probably, therefore, in the world”.
The densest military fortifications are in the area where historically Gibraltar was under the greatest threat – at the northern end facing the isthmus with Spain, comprising of the only land access to Gibraltar was via a sandy isthmus, only three metres (9.8 feet) above sea level, most of which is now occupied by the Spanish town of La Línea de la Concepción. The heights of the Rock formed a natural barrier to movement, and its rocky ledges provided natural platforms for gun batteries. The sheer cliffs on the north side of the Rock block access from that direction.
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