Sagunto

Coordinates: 39°40′35″N 0°16′24″W / 39.67639°N 0.27333°W / 39.67639; -0.27333
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Saguntum
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Sagunto
Sagunto (Spanish)
Sagunt (Valencian)
PSPV-PSOE)
Area
 • Total132 km2 (51 sq mi)
Elevation
49 m (161 ft)
Population
 (2023)[1]
 • Total70,486
 • Density532/km2 (1,380/sq mi)
Demonym(s)Saguntino, saguntina
Saguntí, saguntina
Morvedrí, morvendrina
Official languagesSpanish
Valencian
WebsiteOfficial website
Map
The Castle of Sagunto

Sagunto

Valencia, close to the Costa del Azahar on the Mediterranean Sea
.

It is best known for the remains of the ancient Iberian and Roman city of Saguntum. The siege of Saguntum in 219 BC was the trigger of the Second Punic War between the Carthaginians and the Romans.

The municipality includes three differentiated urban nuclei: Ciutat Vella (Sagunto), Grau Vell [es] and Puerto de Sagunto.[3] Over half of the population lives in the coastal settlement of Puerto de Sagunto.[3]

History

Gaspar Juan Escolano, in his Decades of the History of Valencia (1610-11), writes that the first settlers of Sagunto were Armenian families, the Sagas, who came to the peninsula with Tubal and laid the first foundations of the city[4] naming it Sagunt (Armenian: of Saga). There is also speculation that Achaeans, probably from the Greek island of Zakynthos, could have founded Saguntum as one of the 5 colonies of the Greeks on the western coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the 5th century BC.[5]

During the 5th c. BC the

Diana survives, close to the modern church of Santa Maria. The city traded with coastal colonies in the western Mediterranean such as Carthage and, under their influence, minted its own coins. During this period, the city was known as Arse.[6]

By 219 BC, Saguntum was a large and commercially prosperous town, which sided with the local colonists and Rome against Carthage, and drew Hannibal's first assault, his siege of Saguntum, which triggered the Second Punic War, one of the most important wars of antiquity. After stiff resistance over the course of eight months[7][8] Saguntum was captured by Hannibal.

Seven years later, the town was retaken by the Romans. In 214 BC, it became a

Louis Gabriel Suchet
, who also destroyed the Roman tower of Hercules).

Sagunto kiln, 1951
Saguntum Forum
Saguntum Theatre
Saguntum rear wall of ancient theatre

Under the

kings, Saguntum received its Catholic patron saint, a bishop named Sacerdos
, "the priest", who died peacefully of natural causes about AD 560.

In the early 8th century, the Muslim Arabs

Valencia
grew, Saguntum declined.

In 1098, the city was conquered by El Cid but the Muslims recovered it shortly thereafter. The city had been under the Muslim Arab rule for over 500 years when James I of Aragon conquered it in 1238.

During the

Battle of Saguntum on 25 October 1811. In the weeks before the battle, the Spanish garrison made a valiant and successful defense; but it surrendered the day after the battle.[9] Historian Charles Oman stated that the site was converted into a fortress in 1810–1811 by General Joaquín Blake at the suggestion of British officer Charles William Doyle. At that time, much of the largely intact Roman theater was dismantled to provide stone for restoring the old walls.[10]

Saguntum was badly damaged in warfare, but has retained many Valencian Gothic structures. In the late 19th century, a steel-making industry grew up that supported the modern city, which extends in the coastal plain below the citadel hill. The last steel oven closed in April 1984. It has been restored and is now a tourist attraction.

Main sights

  • The remains of Sagunto Castle may be seen on top of the hill. It preserves much of its walled ramparts, of Roman and Moorish origin.
  • A Roman theater, partly restored in late 20th century. It is found on the northern slope of the citadel hill. It was the first official National Monument declared in Spain (1896).
  • The Gothic Església de Santa Maria (St Mary's Church), in the Plaça Major (Main Square).
  • The Palau Municipal (City Palace), or town hall; a beautiful 18th century building with a neoclassical façade.
  • The early Gothic Església del Salvador (Church of Our Savior).
  • The narrow streets of the Juderia (Old Jewish Quarter), on the hillside on the way up to the citadel.
  • The 13th century Santa Ana convent adjacent to the Plaça de Pi.
  • The Sagunto History Museum, located in the house of Mestre Peña, a building in the Jewish quarter dating from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The largest collection is from the Ibero-Roman Period.

Sport

CD Acero is the town's association football team. Its stadium is El Fornás, located in El Puerto de Sagunto.

Notes

  1. ^ Spanish pronunciation: [saˈɣunto]
  2. ^ Valencian pronunciation: [saˈɣunt]

References

  1. ^ Municipal Register of Spain 2018. National Statistics Institute.
  2. ^ Both the Spanish and Valencian are official names.
  3. ^ a b Bodí Ramiro 2015, p. 13.
  4. ^ Escolano, Gaspar (1611). Decada primera de la historia de la insigne, y coronada ciudad y reyno de Valencia (in Spanish). Pedro Patricio Mey.
  5. ^ Appian, Wars in Spain, 2
  6. ^ Ripollès i Alegre 2002
  7. ^ Livy: History of Rome
  8. ^ Silius Italicus: Punica
  9. ^ Oman 1996, pp. 31–46.
  10. ^ Oman 1996, pp. 11–12.

Bibliography

External links

Official website of the city of Sagunto