Castillo de San Gabriel

The Castillo de San Gabriel is a small 16th-century fort on an islet just off the Arrecife seafront, reached on foot across the much-photographed Puente de las Bolas. It now houses the city's Historical Museum, with collections covering Arrecife's history from the early Spanish conquest through its emergence as the capital of Lanzarote in the 19th century.

The museum is small and quickly visited, but the islet and bridge are worth the walk regardless. The view back toward the seafront is one of the prettiest in the city.

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A story
The fort sits on a small islet linked to the shore by the 18th-century Puente de las Bolas — the Bridge of the Balls — named for the two stone cannonballs perched on its gateposts. The bridge replaced a wooden drawbridge that the city had hauled up each night to defend against the Berber pirates who repeatedly raided the harbour.

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