New series: THE HISTORY OF GIBRALTAR’S BUILDINGS

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 Thursday, September 16, 2021 - 09:27
New series: THE HISTORY OF GIBRALTAR’S BUILDINGS

The City Hall

by MEGAN STRINGER
Gibraltar’s City Hall at the foot of John Mackintosh Square is a building you may walk past every day on your way to work, to run errands or meet friends. However, what you may not know is that the building has a lot of rich history, as it was built way back in the 1800’s. The former City Hall is now the office of the Mayor of Gibraltar.


HISTORY
In 1813, a wealthy and significant merchant here on the Rock and a friend of Nelson named Aaron Cardozo was granted permission to build a house in John Mackintosh Square. He had been fighting for permission for twenty years, and had always received indirect answers, but after two decades he finally won. 

Cardozo was a Jewish English businessman, and non-Protestant, therefore throughout the many years of applying, was not legally allowed to own property in Gibraltar at the time.
Nevertheless, as he had been a close friend of Nelson and had obtained supplies for his fleet, he was eventually granted a site to build a house in John Mackintosh Square, based on the condition that it be "an ornament" to the square. The site had formerly been the old hospital and chapel of La Santa Misericordia (The Holy Mercy), and a prison. The cost was around £40,000 and it was completed in 1819.

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