Sagunto

Sagunto's roots go back to an Iberian settlement called Arse, perched on the hill now known as the Castell de Sagunt. Its port at Grau Vell drew it into Mediterranean trade networks, and its growing power made it a target. In the course of what became the Second Punic War, the Carthaginian general Hannibal besieged the city for eight months. The inhabitants held out, waiting for Roman help that never came in time, and the city eventually fell. Hannibal's main interest was practical: plunder to fund his march on Rome, recruits for his army, and a stronghold closer to his base at Cartagena. Seven years later the Romans retook the city, renamed it Saguntum, and built a theatre seating eight thousand and a large circus in the lower town. At its Roman peak, the territory may have held fifty thousand inhabitants.

After the fall of the Western Empire, Germanic peoples attacked and largely destroyed it. Arab forces took the city in 713, and it became known as Murviedro — from the Latin *muri veteres*, meaning "old walls." It declined in favour of Valencia until James I of Aragon reconquered it in 1239. Notably, Jews barred from living in Valencia settled here instead, making Sagunto's Jewish quarter a significant community through the medieval period.

The historic centre is compact enough to cover on foot. The local bus company AVSA (autosvallduxense.com) runs three routes: Line 1 through the historic centre, Line 2 serving the port area, and Line 102 connecting the historic centre with the port and its beaches — likely the most useful for visitors. A single journey costs €1.45 with no transfers.

Timetables in Spanish are on the AVSA website; detailed route maps are at suvsagunto.es. There is also a taxi stand directly in front of the train station.