Castillo de Gibralfaro- castle begun in 1040!

Don't some things just sound better in Spanish?! Castillo de Gibralfaro is a Moorish fortress that was in action from the 15th-20th Century. We saw stone cannon balls, really HIP 16th Century Italian boots, dungeon cells, the Mediterranean Sea, slits in stone that were made for arrows (can you spy those in the pictures above? They will look like windows from the outside).

BUT a quick history lesson since we've been absolutely pummeled with having to understand the Moros and Cristianos--- a huge fight between two royal and religious factions that took place more than a 1000 years ago. It starts with Arabs who came up from Africa in the 8th Century.

TEST. When was the 8th Century? The first kid friend to answer in the comments will receive a keychain from Spain.

UPDATE: CONGRATULATIONS GRACE!! YES, 700's.

The Arabs were Muslim now as so many of them are today. They worshiped the Koran and thought geometric shapes, gardens, water (remember, the Arabian peninsula was a  desert then as it is today) arches and special keyhole shaped designs were considered beautiful. We can see all of this even today. The Christians worshiped Jesus and especially Mary, just as they do today; they loved tiles too but instead of geometric shapes they liked to put symbols that represented something in their history like acorns (remember the famous pig and what he eats??) and oak leaves, castles, shields, coats of arms, and people (in the Muslim belief system it was forbidden to represent the human face or form in art- that's why they perfected their ability to express themselves in architecture, painting and design). The Moors built Mosques as their place of worship; the Christians built churches.

Just like Baby-O says, 'NO! MINE!' so did the Moors and Christians when they fought over disputed territory. Today we saw a Christian church that was built out of the rubble of a Moorish Mosque- the Christians destroyed it and rebuilt to represent what they believed in.

Can you tell which of these pictures represent the Moors and which represent the Christians? Guess what? These are both from the patio garden at the Hotel Monte Victoria--- they were right under our feet. Tata said one day-- "Look! Spanish history spelled out in tiles!"

The Moors word for ruling power was Caliphate and the one built in what is now Spain would become the most powerful kingdom in the West (we'll get to visit the ancient capital city in Cordoba soon- the palace was so beautiful they say that the Christians kept it instead of destroying it). The Moors and Christians spent 800 years fighting back and forth so we've seen ruins of 5 fortresses in less than a week and there are castles everywhere! These structures were built like watchtowers over their kingdom to see when the enemy was coming.

The story will continue in another post.

Here are pictures of the fortress in Malaga:

Ancient Cannonballs:

16th Century Italian soldier helmet-- what was an Italian uniform doing in a Malaga, Spain fortress?? Because, Malaga has been changing hands for 1000's of years. It was established before Jesus Christ was born by the Phoenicians who were great sailors and salted fish here. Malaga means salting place. Then, the Romans came and took it over (there is a Roman theater in Malaga to prove it!). After the Romans came the Arabs, then the Christians---the Italians fought as mercenaries for the Spanish crown. Extra credit: What is the Swiss Guard doing guarding the Vatican to this day???

The Italians have been hip forever! I want these boots!!

Looking out over the Mediterranean from along a watchtower causeway

This is what J has to say about visiting the fortress, "It was interesting to be there. To feel it. It was magical. Everything was so old. It was amazing that it was still there and that I could see it. The arrow turrets were dusty and rocky but I could still feel the spirit inside the cylinder where the archers and turret men used to stand."

An arrow turret.

The light peeking out  behind baby-O's head is the slit for the arrows.

We had a great lunch at the parador (they are all over Spain and the word means a place to 'stop over or rest' for a traveler or pilgrim)-- this was our view from the cafe:

This was my delicious sandwich:

Lo and behold- when we looked out over a wall to see the city below we saw Malaga's bullring! It's like an American city's 'dome' for sports like football or baseball.

Here is what it looked like when we returned back to the Hotel Monte Victoria- we try to keep our special routines like 'reading time' sacred. Tata reads on his new 'Kringle' can anyone guess what that is??