Peñíscola () or Peníscola () and officially Peñíscola/Peníscola, anglicised as Peniscola, is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

Province of Castellón Castellón (); co-officially in ) is a province in the northern part of the Valencian Community. It is bordered by the provinces of Valencia to the south, Teruel to the west, Tarragona to the north, and by the Mediterranean Sea to the east. T ...

Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The town is located on the Costa del Azahar, north of the Serra d'Irta along the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

coast. It is a popular tourist destination.

History

Peniscola, often called the "

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

", and locally as "The City in the Sea", is a fortified seaport, with a lighthouse, built on a rocky headland about 220 feet (67 m) high, and joined to the mainland by only a narrow strip of land (

tombolo A tombolo is a sandy or shingle isthmus. It is a deposition landform by which an island becomes attached to the mainland by a narrow piece of land such as a spit or bar. Once attached, the island is then known as a tied island. The word ''t ...

). ''Peníscola'' is a local evolution of Latin ''

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

''. The history of the place goes back to the

Iberians The Iberians (, from , ''Iberes'') were an ancient people settled in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian Peninsula, at least from the 6th century BC. They are described in Greek and Roman sources (among others, by Hecataeus of Mil ...

. Later the town became Phoenician, named ''Tyreche'', then

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

, under the name ''Chersonesos'' (meaning "peninsula"). It was next captured by the

Carthaginians The Punic people, usually known as the Carthaginians (and sometimes as Western Phoenicians), were a Semitic people, Semitic people who Phoenician settlement of North Africa, migrated from Phoenicia to the Western Mediterranean during the Iron ...

under

Hamilcar Barca Hamilcar Barca or Barcas (; – 228BC) was a Ancient Carthage, Carthaginian general and statesman, leader of the Barcid family, and father of Hannibal, Hasdrubal Barca, Hasdrubal and Mago Barca, Mago. He was also father-in-law to Hasdrubal the F ...

; legend has it that this is the place where he made his son

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

swear an oath that he would never be a friend of Rome. The present castle was built by the

Knights Templar The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon, mainly known as the Knights Templar, was a Military order (religious society), military order of the Catholic Church, Catholic faith, and one of the most important military ord ...

between 1294 and 1307. In the fourteenth century it was garrisoned by the Knights of Montesa, and in 1420 it reverted to the

Crown of Aragon The Crown of Aragon (, ) ;, ; ; . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona (later Principality of Catalonia) and ended as a consequence of the War of the Sp ...

. From 1415 to 1423 it was the home of the schismatic Avignon pope Benedict XIII (Pedro de Luna), whose name is commemorated in the ''Castell del Papa Luna'', the name of the medieval castle, and ''Bufador del Papa Luna'', a curious cavern with a landward entrance through which the seawater escapes in clouds of spray.

The castle

The castle was originally built in 1307 by the

and then in 1319 it was taken over by the

Order of Montesa The Orde Militar de Santa Maria de Montesa, often shortened to Order of Montesa (, Aragonese and ) is a Christian military order, territorially limited to the old Crown of Aragon. It was named after the castle of Montesa, its headquarters. ...

, they then ceded the castle to the

Supreme Pontiff The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

. The castle was also where the

Antipope Benedict XIII Pedro Martínez de Luna y Pérez de Gotor (25 November 1328 – 23 May 1423), known as () or Pope Luna, was an Aragonese nobleman who was antipope with the regnal name Benedict XIII during the Western Schism. Early life Pedro Martínez de Lu ...

lived from 1417 until his death in 1423. In 1960 the castle was restored using a

pastiche A pastiche () is a work of visual art, literature, theatre, music, or architecture that imitates the style or character of the work of one or more other artists. Unlike parody, pastiche pays homage to the work it imitates, rather than mocking ...

along with addition of new walls which were added for Anthony Mann's film ''

El Cid Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar ( – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian knight and ruler in medieval Spain. Fighting both with Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific ("the Lord" or "the Master"), which would evolve i ...

'' which was partially filmed there. The town and castle of Peníscola played the role of

. The castle is now a popular tourist attraction and the beaches and surrounding area are a popular family holiday resort.

Music festivals

Each summer, Peniscola hosts two music festivals: the International Festival of Ancient and Baroque Music (since 1996) and the International Jazz Festival of Peniscola (since 2004). At the beginning of August, a pyromusical show opens the International Festival of Ancient and Baroque Music.El Mundo, 08/02/2019
La Pirotécnica Peñarroja iluminará el piromusical de Peñíscola
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Film festival

Peniscola hosted an annual comedy film festival that draws Spanish and foreign actors and filmmakers, and features screenings in historic venues. That the festival celebrates comedy is a natural fit; the city was the backdrop for

Luis García Berlanga Luis García-Berlanga Martí Medal of Merit in Labour, MMT (12 June 1921 – 13 November 2010) was a Spanish film director and screenwriter. Acclaimed as a pioneer of modern Spanish cinema, his films are marked by social satire and acerbic criti ...

's comedic masterpiece '' Calabuch''.

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peniscola Municipalities in the Province of Castellón Baix Maestrat Seaside resorts in Spain Phoenician colonies in Spain