Rock of Gibraltar Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar, also known as The Rock, is a monolithic limestone promontory located in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, near the southwestern tip of Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It is high. Most of the Rock's upper area is covered by a nature reserve, which is home to around 300 Barbary macaques. These macaques, as well as a labyrinthine network of tunnels, attract a large number of tourists each year. The Rock of Gibraltar was one of the two Pillars of Hercules and was known to the Romans as "Mons Calpe", the other pillar
Rock of Gibraltar point stands near the south end above the strait at O'Hara's Battery. The Rock's central peak, Signal Hill and the top station of the Gibraltar Cable Car, stands at an elevation of . The near-cliffs along the eastern side of the Rock drop down to a series of wind-blown sand slopes that date to the glaciations when sea levels were lower than today, and a sandy plain extended east from the base of the Rock. The western face, where the City of Gibraltar is located, is comparatively less steep. Calcite, the mineral that makes up limestone, dissolves slowly in rainwater.