INFOPAGES

history

The Iberian peninsula has been occupied since prehistoric times. Remains of these first settlers are fascinating cave paintings which can be found in the caves and valleys along the Costa Blanca.

In about 800BC the Phoenicians had set up trading camps along the coast attracted by the mineral deposits and they were followed by the Greeks who had a great cultural influence on the native Iberians. The Carthaginians related to the Phoenicians then took over much of southern Spain. The controversy about the place "Saguntum" started the 2nd "punic war" 218 BC. and was fought between Carthage and Rome. The Romans gained the supremacy of the region and the whole Iberic peninsula, which was to last for the next six centuries Slavery was introduced to the country during the Roman rule.

Barbarians or Visigoths , a Germanic people conquered the Iberian area in 300 AD., and the Christian religion was spread at the same time. The Muslims invaded from Morocco and conquered Spain by horse from 708 to 714. They gave the technical support for the agricultural irrigation sytems to the Iberians, and filled the orchards with peaches, oranges, and pomegranates. So the countyside of the "Levante" began to become a blooming, rich coloured area. But the mooric rule broke down in a number of smaller kingdoms in the 11th century. Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar "El Cid" conquered Valencia under the flag of Christianity in 1093.

Valencia became part of the kingdom of Aragón about two hundred years later. The economy blossomed in Valencia during the 15th century. During this period there was a breakdown of the economy and agriculture, as the moors were driven further southwards. In 1469 the marriage of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon prepared the way for the union of these two kingdoms and marked the growing success of Spain. Granada the last Arab city in Spain was conquered in 1492. The power of Spain increased greatly with the discovery of the New World by Christopher Columbus at this time. The moors were driven out of Spain and, and the jews either had to leave or convert to Christianity. History is played out today in many towns with the festival known as "Moros y Christianos".

Alfonso XII. was crowned the first King of Spain in Saguntum 1874, and a time of political rebellion and disorientation followed. In 1931 Alphonso XIII left Spain and Spain became a Republic.

On the 17th of July 1936 a large section of the army under General Franco rose in revolt against the government The resulting civil war gained support on both sides from countries outside Spain, and lasted until 1939. The following years under the dictatorship brought a boom in tourism. When Franco died in 1975 Juan Carlos become constitutional monarch and the transition to democracy proceeded smoothly, and Valencia became an autonomous region.

Valencia has been preparing for the new millenium in recent years, and new and very modern architecture has been built like the L'Hemisferi of Santiago Calatrava and the congress-center built by the architect Sir Norman Foster.