Sagunto Castle

Sagunto Castle (Spanish: Castillo de Sagunto; Valencian: Castell de Sagunt) is a fortress overlooking the town of Sagunto, near Valencia in Spain. The site's history extends back over two thousand years and includes Iberian, Roman and medieval remains. During the Islamic period, the castle was known as Murbĩtar and Morvedre. The castle was declared a National Monument in 1931.

The sacking of the Iberian settlement by Hannibal in 219 BC led to the outbreak of the Second Punic War. The visible walls are largely Islamic in origin, with substantial modifications taking place after the end of Islamic rule, with the defences being strengthened and modernised. In 1811, during the Napoleonic Wars, the French laid siege to the castle, and were ultimately successful in taking it, after which the defences were repaired.

The castle is located 23 kilometres (14 mi) north of Valencia, upon a flat-topped hill. The hill is the last upthrust of the Sierra Calderona mountains, reaching an altitude of 172 metres (564 ft) above mean sea level.

The original Iberian name for the city was Arse. Sagunto was originally recorded as a Roman municipium in the middle of the 1st century BC, as the Municipium Saguntinum, or simply Saguntum. During the reign of Wamba, king of the Visigoths, the old Roman municipium became referred to as Sagunto, and it continued under this name until 711 AD, and the end of the Visigoth kingdom. During the Muslim domination of Spain, the Mozarabs referred to the town as Murum Veterum, the "old wall", a name already in use by the 11th century. In time this form was contracted and corrupted into forms such as Murvetrum, Morvedre, and Molvedre, and the Muslims modified this into Murbiter. Christian documents from the 11th century use the form Murus Vetulus.

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