Charles V Wall The Charles V Wall is a 16th - century defensive curtain wall that forms part of the fortifications of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar . It was built in 1540 and strengthened in 1552 by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V . The wall remains largely intact and extends from South Bastion , which was once at the water ' s edge in the harbour , to the top ridge of the Rock of Gibraltar . Description . The lower section of the wall runs up from the South Bastion which was once at the water ' s edge in the harbour , to Prince Edward ' s Gate at the base of a steep cliff . It is pierced by the Puerta de África ( ) , which is defended from above by the Flat Bastion . The upper section of Charles V Wall , somewhat further south , runs from the top of a cliff up to the crest of The Rock . It zigzag s up the slope of The Rock in four stages in a configuration that lets the defenders give flanking fire to each face . The " Hacho " ( later the Signal Station ) at the top of the wall was once equipped with a small tower . Another wall continues from the lower section of Charles V Wall almost all the way up to the top of The Rock and known as the Moorish Wall . It was once thought to be an ancient wall from the Moorish period . However , the " Muralla de San Reymondo " ( ) , also known as the " Philip II Wall " , was built during the 16th century by King Philip II of Spain as a fallback defensive line . Construction . At the time the Charles V Wall was built , the Barbary pirates posed the main threat to the city . In September 1540 Gibraltar was attacked by a corsair force led by Piali Hamet , one of Barbarossa ' s captains . The town was plundered and many of the leading citizens were taken captive . The wall , originally called the " Muralla de San Benito " ( ) , was built in 1540 to help defend The Rock against further attacks from the south . Starting around 1552 the Italian military engineer Giovanni Battista Calvi made improvements to the wall . Calvi designed a wall that ran west - east in a straight line from the coast for about until it reached a precipice . A traverse ran north - south along the top of the cliff , and then a zigzag wall ran up to the crest of the Rock of Gibraltar . Philip II succeeded Charles V in 1558 , and commissioned the Genovese engineer Giovan Giacomo Paleari Fratino to continue the improvements . El Fratino decided that the traverse should be abandoned , and what had been done on Calvi ' s zigzag wall should be demolished . Instead , an upper wall should continue the line of the lower wall from the top of the cliff to the crest of the rock . Work was stopped on the traverse , but Philip II ' s chief engineer Tibúrcio Spanucchi refused to stop work on the zigzag wall , which was eventually finished in 1599 , and forms the upper portion of the Charles V Wall . The traverse wall along the top of the cliff was never built . A 1565 sketch of the wall by Anton van den Wyngaerde shows that it did not then have bastion s , but depicted a gatehouse projecting from the wall to the African Gate . The " Baluarte de Nuestra Señora del Rosario " ( now South Bastion ) and the " Bastión de Santiago " ( now Flat Bastion ) in the lower section of the wall had both been built by 1627 . Fratino built the South Bastion , which was possibly improved by Alsatian engineer Daniel Specklin , and built the Flat Bastion . In 1627 the Spaniard Luis Bravo de Acuña wrote a treatise on the fortifications of Gibraltar for King Philip IV of Spain . He noted the use of strategically placed boulders that a single man could roll down on attackers , and of hoardings above the city gate s holding large rocks that could also be dropped down on attackers . History . In July 1704 combined forces from the United Kingdom and the Dutch Republic led by Sir George Rooke , captured Gibraltar during the War of the Spanish Succession . The Spanish attempted to recapture The Rock in October 1704 during its Twelfth Siege . A force of five hundred volunteers led by Spanish Gibraltar - born goatherd Simón Susarte managed to scale Charles V ' s Wall , and massacred the guard at Middle Hill , but were attacked by a party of grenadier s and were all either killed or captured . The Southport Gates were built in place of the old " Puerta de África " in the lower section of the wall . Deadman ' s Cemetery used to be located on the inner ( north ) side of the wall , above the Southport Gates with some of the headstones dating back to 1738 . In 1798 Southport Ditch Cemetery ( later renamed Trafalgar Cemetery in honour of the Battle of Trafalgar ) was consecrated , a small graveyard on the other side of the wall from Deadman ' s Cemetery . Many of the tombstones are those of victims of the 1804 , 1813 and 1814 yellow fever epidemics . Trafalgar Cemetery fell into disuse after 1814 . In 1929 Deadman ' s Cemetery became part of St . Jago ' s Barracks and was turned into a ball alley and rifle range , with the headstones relocated to Trafalgar Cemetery in 1932 and embedded into one of the walls . The upper section of Charles V Wall has recently been restored by the Bonita Trust , together with the Government of Gibraltar . The wall is in good condition and is fitted with a handrail and it is possible to walk along it from the foot to the top of The Rock . The upper section of Charles V Wall lies within the Upper Rock Nature Reserve which was established in 1993 and covers about 40 % of Gibraltar ' s total land area . Inglis Way , one of the walks within the reserve begins at Queen ' s Gate near the foot of the upper section of the wall at Prince Ferdinand ' s Battery . It leads through a region of esparto grass , white asparagus , common asphodel and germander . References . Notes Citations Sources