 |
| 0217 Aerial view of Gibraltar (1) |
Posted on 23.05.2012, 01.05.2013
For the ancient Greeks, this was the west edge of the world. Gone to fulfill the tenth labour ordered by King Eurystheus, i.e. to fetch the red cattle of Geryon, Hercules marked the place where Libya meets Europe with two rocks, one on each shore, to immortalize his journey. Since then, these promontories were named Pillars of Heracles (Hercules for Romans). The 14 km of water that separates Africa from Europe have never been an obstacle for those who wanted to cross from one continent to another, be they Carthaginians, Romans, Vandals, Visigoths, Byzantines or Muslims.
 |
| 0623 Aerial view of Gibraltar (2) |
Actually, the Muslim Berber general who led the Islamic conquest of Visigothic Hispania in 711-718 A.D., Tariq ibn Ziyad on his name, gave the current name of the Mons Calpe, respectively Gibraltar (Jabal Tāriq - mountain of Tariq). Strait of Gibraltar was also, during many hundreds of years, a easy way to pass from the Mediterranean into the Atlantic or vice versa. And all those listed before did it easily, plus the Vikings, Venetians, Spaniards and others, including pirates of all nations, only the development of artillery complicating things later.
