Court of Orange Trees with Spanish Coat of Arms

Ref: HLMP2/019

Court of Orange Trees with Spanish Coat of Arms – Main Street, North East Corner of Cathedral of St Mary the Crowned

The Cathedral's small courtyard is the remnant of the larger Moorish court of the former mosque which stood on this site.

After the Christians drove the Moors from the Rock in 1462, the Mosque was consecrated as a church until the Catholic Kings, Ferdinand and Isabella, decreed that the new church would be stripped of its Islamic past and extended.

The Coat of Arms within the courtyard have long been attributed to the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella who extended the church. However, in recent times it is becoming more widely accepted that the coat of arms is more likely to be those of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V and placed there during the late 16thcentury when the Italian Engineers El Fratino and Calvi were involved in attempting to build Charles V Wall. This would suggest that further changes to the church structure was carried out during this time. The original Spanish courtyard was four times its present size and contained an orange grove surrounded by cloisters. The church itself extended to the opposite side of what is now Main Street as can be seen from the 1753 Particular Survey of Gibraltar. During the Great Siege (1779-1783), however, the church suffered tremendous damage and despite the attempts of returning exiles to rebuild gradually, scant progress was made. In 1790, Governor Boyd offered his assistance in return for a third of the land on which the building stood, enabling him to straighten this section of Main Street. This resulted in a much reduced church courtyard.

The archway forming the entrance to the chapel just off the patio, is part of the original Spanish church, and was known first as the Pina Chapel (after the knight who endowed it) and then as the Capilla de Hierro (The Wrought-Iron Chapel). The height of the arch gives an impression of the height of the original Spanish church. The Capilla de Hierro was reduced to its present size by Bishop Scandella. The wrought-iron lantern next to the Arms is also of Spanish origin.