Southport Gates

Southport Gates
Puerta de África
Part of Fortifications of Gibraltar
Charles V Wall, Gibraltar
View of New (l) and Old (r) Southport Gates in Charles V Wall, looking north.
View of Referendum Gate in Charles V Wall, looking south.
Southport Gates
Coordinates	36°08′06″N 5°21′10″W / 36.134890°N 5.352838°W / 36.134890; -5.352838
Type	City Gates
Site information
Owner	Government of Gibraltar
Open to the public	Yes
Condition	Good
Site history
Built	1552, 1883, 1967

The Southport Gates are three city gates in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. They are located in the Charles V Wall, one of the 16th century fortifications of Gibraltar. The gates are clustered together, with the South Bastion to the west, and the Trafalgar Cemetery to the east. The first and second Southport Gates were constructed at present day Trafalgar Road in 1552 and 1883, respectively. The third gate, Referendum Gate, is the widest of the three and was constructed in 1967 at Main Street, immediately west of the first two gates. The Southport Gates are listed with the Gibraltar Heritage Trust.

The Southport Gates are Gibraltar, the British Overseas Territory at the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula. The gates are located in the Charles V Wall, one of the early fortifications of Gibraltar that defended the former southern limit of the city. They are positioned between the South Bastion to the west and the Flat Bastion to the east, at the bottom of Trafalgar Hill, adjacent to the Trafalgar Cemetery (pictured below). The original Southport Gate and the "New" Southport Gate are located at Trafalgar Road, while the most recent of the gates, Referendum Gate, provides access at Main Street. The Southport Gates, together with a rifled muzzle loading ten inch 18 ton gun, are listed with the Gibraltar Heritage Trust.

The Southport Gate (pictured at right), formerly known as the Africa Gate, was the earliest of the trio of gates in the Charles V Wall. It was constructed by Italian engineer Giovanni Battista Calvi in 1552, under the reign of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. The Southport Gate bears the Royal Arms of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, as well as the coat of arms of Gibraltar. The gate was depicted in a 1627 map of Gibraltar by Spanish engineer Luis Bravo de Acuña. On the map now held by the British Museum, the Southport Gate and the adjacent Southport Ditch were labeled in Spanish as Puerta de África (English: Africa Gate) and Fosso (English: Ditch), respectively. The Flat Bastion (Spanish: Baluarte de Santiago), the South Bastion (Spanish: Baluarte de Nuestra Señora del Rosario), and Southport Ditch were elements in the defence of the gate and the city. The Southport Ditch was a large trench which extended along the south side of Charles V Wall from the southwestern end of the South Bastion to the Flat Bastion at Prince Edward's Gate.