Peñíscola is a name in History, present in it since the most ancient civilizations. A fortress that, thanks to its extraordinary natural conditions, has been a coveted place for all Mediterranean sailors. The two key factors are its strategic location on a rocky promontory, a castle naturally protected almost entirely by the sea except for a sandy spit, together with its providential abundance of freshwater springs. These two natural conditions will make it a place in History.
There are abundant archaeological remains found near the tombolo, at sites in the nearby mountains, confirming the settlement of these lands by an Iberian people (Ilercavones), as well as the relationship between them and the Phoenician merchants who arrived by sea (7th–6th centuries BC). In Peñíscola, Phoenicians from Tyre probably settled, and shortly afterwards Greeks from Zacynthus. Later, other peoples would arrive by sea, such as Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, and Arabs.
The oldest written accounts are found in references by Hecataeus (6th century BC), Strabo (1st century BC), and Rufus Festus Avienus (4th century), who in their descriptions of the coast mention the city of Chersonesos. A name the Greeks gave the city, and whose translation means peninsula. It would also be the Romans who, when translating the Greek name of the city into Latin (according to renowned philologists, in the vulgar form pene+iscola, “almost an island”), gave rise to today’s place name, Peñíscola.
From the year 718, when Tariq completed the conquest, until 1233, the city of Peñíscola lived under Muslim rule. Arab geographers refer to Peñíscola (which they would call Banáskula) as an impregnable castle by the sea, with farmsteads, crops, an abundance of fresh water, and important salt pans.
From the fortress over the sea, which would become a frontier with Christendom, the Moors raided the coastline and carried out incursions into the Kingdom of Aragon. Peñíscola would be the birthplace of illustrious figures such as the famous Wolf King, Mohamed ben San, Aben Mardanish (1124), who managed to maintain an independent Islamic kingdom in the southeast of the peninsula against African invaders.
Although he had already tried in 1225, besieging it for two months and failing in his attempt, it would not be until 1233 that King James I, with Catalan and Aragonese soldiers, would take possession of Peñíscola Castle, also regaining control of the sea. It would be a peaceful conquest. After the fall of Burriana, which left the northern Arab castles isolated, the city would accept surrender under certain agreements that respected Saracen laws and customs.
On January 28, 1251, however, King James I would grant the city a charter of settlement under the laws of Valencia, by virtue of which he would dispossess the Moors of all their goods and properties, which he would hand over to the new Christian settlers.
As a result of this climate of tension, and in order to protect the territories recently conquered by the Christians, in 1294 it was decided to undertake the great construction of the Castle on the foundations of the old Arab alcazaba built centuries earlier. Those in charge of carrying out such an ambitious project would be the Templar Monk-Knights, the most famous military religious order of the Middle Ages. Its construction would come to an abrupt end in December 1307, just 13 years after it began, due to the start of the persecution they were subjected to, which would precipitate the definitive end of the Templars, and with them the epilogue of a fascinating chapter of the Middle Ages.
Few places deserve a guided tour more than Peñíscola… On our guided tours, we’ll interpret the traces the Templars left in their last great construction: Peñíscola Castle.
