History of Gibraltar the narrowest points in the Mediterranean, only from the coast of Morocco in North Africa. Its position on the bay makes it an advantageous natural anchorage for ships. As one writer has put it, "whoever controls Gibraltar also controls the movement of ships into and out of the Mediterranean. In terms of military and naval power, few places have a more strategic location than Gibraltar." The territory's area measures only . Most of the land area is occupied by the steeply sloping Rock of Gibraltar which reaches a height of . The town of Gibraltar lies at the base of
South Bastion, Gibraltar "The centipedes and quadrantipedes are plenty, with a large hairy spider, which some say is the tarantula, and together with the grilia talpa, are inhabitants of the south bastion." One of the bastion's current uses is to house the Gibraltar College which sits on top of the bastion. A statue of Horatio Nelson stands below the South Bastion's wall, erected to commemorate the 200th anniversary of his victory and death in the Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805). The statue was designed by John Doubleday and shows Nelson as he was when he last arrived at Gibraltar. The sculpture was