Sagunto Sagunt |
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Municipality | |||
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Location in Spain | |||
Coordinates: 39°40′35″N 0°16′24″W / 39.67639°N 0.27333°WCoordinates: 39°40′35″N 0°16′24″W / 39.67639°N 0.27333°W | |||
Country | Spain | ||
Autonomous community | Valencian Community | ||
Province | Valencia | ||
Comarca | Camp de Morvedre | ||
Founded | Before 219 BC | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 132 km2 (51 sq mi) | ||
Elevation | 49 m (161 ft) | ||
Population | |||
• Total | 65,005 | ||
Demonym(s) | Saguntí, saguntina Morvedrí, morvendrina |
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Official language(s) | Spanish | ||
Website | Official website |
Sagunto [Spanish: [saˈɣunto]] (Catalan: Sagunt [Catalan pronunciation: [saˈɣunt]], Valencian: Sagunt [Valencian: [saˈɣunt]], Latin: Saguntum) is a town in Eastern Spain, in the modern fertile comarca of Camp de Morvedre in the province of Valencia. It is located c. 30 km north of 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, which played a significant part in the Second Punic War between the Carthaginians (under Hannibal) and the Romans.
During the 5th century BC, the Iberians built a walled settlement on the hill overseeing the plain; a stretch of cyclopean limestone slabs from the former temple of Diana survives, close to the modern church of Santa Maria, but the settlement site is still older. The city traded with Greek and Phoenician coastal colonies, and under their influence, minted its own coins. During this period the city was known as Arse (Ripollès i Alegre 2002). By 219 BC Saguntum was a large and commercially prosperous town, which sided with the local Greek 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.