Peñíscola

Peñíscola municipality
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Valencia
Province :	Castellón
Comarca :	Baix Maestrat
Coordinates	40 ° 22 ′  N , 0 ° 24 ′  E Coordinates: 40 ° 22 ′  N , 0 ° 24 ′  E
Height :	46  msnm
Area :	79 km²
Residents :	7,612 (Jan 1, 2019)
Population density :	96.35 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	12598
Municipality number  ( INE ):	12089
administration
Website :	www.peniscola.org
Location of the municipality

Peñíscola ( Catal . Peníscola , Spanish. Peñíscola ) is a city in the Spanish province of Castellón in the north of the Autonomous Region of Valencia in the area of ​​the (historical) Kingdom of Aragon on the Mediterranean coast ( Costa del Azahar ( Catal . Costa dels Tarongers ) - "Orange Blossom Coast " ) and is located north of the provincial capital Castelló (73 km away) and the regional capital Valencia (113 km).

description

Peñíscola is located in a privileged location on the Mediterranean Sea and is a popular destination for national and international tourism . It has 7,612 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2019), although this number can grow to more than 150,000 due to holidaymakers in the high tourist season. With its unique historic old town on a rock and the five kilometer long beach, Peñíscola is one of the most important holiday destinations in Spain, v. a. for the Spaniards themselves, but recently increasingly also for foreigners. Peñíscola has around 300 sunny days a year, the average temperature in summer is 27 ° C and in winter 11 ° C. The water temperature in summer is around 23 ° C.

The old town is located on an imposing rock that rises 64 m above the sea and is connected to the mainland by a strip of sand that was previously washed away by the waves in storms, so that the city was temporarily transformed into an island. The center of the old town is a fortress castle ( citadel ) from the 14th century.

In contrast to the old town are the newly built streets and avenues of the tourist district. The sea is distributed between the extensive sandy beaches in the north of the citadel and bays in the south, surrounded by steep, steep slopes. The 79 km² of the urban area with 17 km of coastline is distributed evenly over forest areas and cultivation areas of the warm Mediterranean sun, where orange , olive and almond trees are not missing.

Peñíscola

history

The history of today's city goes back to around 1000 BC. BC back. Today's old town was then a castle. In ancient times and in the early Middle Ages, the square had already been settled and fortified by Carthaginians, Greeks, Phoenicians, Romans and Arabs. The present castle was built by the Knights Templar from 1294 to 1307 on the ruins of a Moorish fortress. Settled in the style between late Romanesque and Gothic, the castle is unadorned and simple. Regardless, the castle of Peñíscola (after the Alhambra in Granada ) is one of the most visited sights in Spain.

Peñíscola became generally known through the last two antipopes of the Obedience of Avignon in the Great Western Schism , Benedict XIII. and Clemens VIII. In 1411 Benedict XIII. (also called "Papa Luna" after his birth name Pedro de Luna and the moon in his coat of arms) moved to the castle of Peñíscola in the area of ​​the king of Aragón, who supported his obedience , and lived there until his death on May 23, 1423. Also his successor Clement VIII took up residence in Peñíscola until his abdication and appointment as Bishop of Mallorca . After the end of the Great Occidental Schism, Peñíscola was an insignificant provincial town without any particular incidents and was only rediscovered as a "historical" travel destination by tourism in the 20th century.

Trivia

Against the backdrop of the imposing castle complex, the final decisive battle of the Spaniards against the Almoravids of the famous historical film El Cid was filmed on the beach of Peñíscola . Peñíscola also serves as the backdrop for the 6th season of Game of Thrones .

Web links

Commons : Peníscola / Peñíscola  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

• official website (catal., span.)
• Peniscola

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).