Melilla la Vieja is the original fortress that has stood here since the Spanish took the city in 1497. It occupies the tip of a rocky peninsula jutting into the Mediterranean, surrounded on three sides by sea and defended on the landward side by a series of concentric walls, gates, and bastions built over three centuries of Spanish rule. Today it functions as an open-air museum — you walk through gate after gate, each level higher and more defended than the last, until you reach the highest point with views across the Alboran Sea.
The fortress contains the Museo Municipal de Melilla, with Roman-era finds from the area, Spanish colonial artefacts, and exhibits on the city's complex multi-cultural identity. The Santuario de la Purísima Concepción, the oldest church in Africa, stands at the heart of the citadel. The whole area is well preserved and takes about two hours to explore thoroughly.