Historic bombproof barracks and casemates beside Grand Casemates Gates, Gibraltar.
Grand Casemates is a historic bombproof barracks and casemate building in Grand Casemates Square, Gibraltar, beside the Grand Casemates Gates through the former town wall. Begun in the 1770s and completed in 1817, it is now open to the public and houses restaurants, shops, and cultural activities.
Grand Casemates is a historic bombproof barracks and casemate building in Grand Casemates Square, Gibraltar, part of the Fortifications of Gibraltar and managed by the Government of Gibraltar. It stands beside the Grand Casemates Gates, which lead through the former town wall and form part of Gibraltar’s ancient city walls. Construction of the bombproof barracks began in the 1770s and the building was completed in 1817. In the nineteenth century, hygiene in the barracks was primitive. There was a cholera outbreak in 1865 that killed several soldiers. By 1868, ablutions and bathrooms had been fitted and George Jennings’s flush toilets installed, and the drainage system was overhauled. However, by 1874 none of the barracks in Gibraltar had baths, and Grand Casemates was the only one with footpans for washing. In 1888 faulty drains caused sewage to soak into the ground near soldiers’ rooms, thought to be responsible for a high incidence of fever. For a period, the barracks housed about two thousand workers from Morocco. More recently, Grand Casemates has been restored and converted for commercial use, with restaurants, shops, and cultural activities. The second floor contains an arts and crafts exhibition hall, and sections of tunnels are open to visitors by special arrangement.
