Flat Bastion

Flat Bastion
Baluarte de Santiago (formerly)
Part of Fortifications of Gibraltar
Charles V Wall, Gibraltar in Gibraltar
Section of the 1908 Ordnance Survey map of Gibraltar showing Flat Bastion. Note retired flank and orillon on west wall. Flat Bastion Magazine is highlighted in yellow. North is to the left.
Section of 1608 map by Cristóbal de Rojas includes South Bastion and Flat Bastion, each with an orillon and a retired flank.
Flat Bastion Location of Flat Bastion within Gibraltar.
Coordinates	36°08′05″N 5°21′05″W / 36.134820°N 5.351388°W / 36.134820; -5.351388Coordinates: 36°08′05″N 5°21′05″W / 36.134820°N 5.351388°W / 36.134820; -5.351388
Type	Bastion
Site information
Owner	Government of Gibraltar
Open to the public	Partly
Condition	Mostly derelict
Site history
Materials	Masonry

Flat Bastion is a bastion which projects southward from the Charles V Wall in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Once known as the St. Jago's Bastion or the Baluarte de Santiago in Spanish, the fortification was built by the Spanish in the mid 16th century and formed part of the southern defences of the city of Gibraltar, together with Charles V Wall, Southport Gates, Southport Ditch, and South Bastion. In 1859, six guns, four 12-pounders and two 12-pound carronades, were installed on the bastion, and four years later, five 32-pounders were mounted on the fortification.

Flat Bastion takes its name from the angle that its south-facing walls form with each other and with the Charles V Wall. Within the eastern portion of Flat Bastion is Flat Bastion Magazine. The bastion and magazine within it are separately listed with the Gibraltar Heritage Trust. The magazine has been restored and converted into a research facility.

Flat Bastion is a fortification in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Its north end is along the Charles V Wall, from which it projects southward. Prince Edward's Gate, Prince Edward's Road, and Trafalgar Cemetery are just to the west of the bastion.Flat Bastion Road extends to the bastion at the east side of its north face at the Charles V Wall and traverses the bastion at which point it becomes Gardiner's Road.

The name of the bastion refers to the faces of the fortification and not to the slope of the ground on which it was built; Flat Bastion was constructed on sloping ground. A 1908 map of the Flat Bastion confirms that its south faces join at an obtuse angle which is relatively flat, and nearly parallel to the Charles V Wall. Flat Bastion includes Flat Bastion Magazine within its eastern portion, now a geological research and exhibition facility. The bastion is a listed building with the Gibraltar Heritage Trust. While St. Jago's Bastion has been said to be an early name for Flat Bastion, it has a separate listing with the Gibraltar Heritage Trust, next to those for Flat Bastion and Flat Bastion Magazine.