page_title: History of Alicante
section_title: Before the 20th Century
hierarchical_section_title: History of Alicante / Before the 20th Century
caption_attribution_description: Alicante, centre historique English: Street in Alicante Français&#160;: Alicante, la vieille ville, Espagne
context_page_description: The history of Alicante spans thousands of years. The first settlements in the Alicante area were made by Iberian tribes. Since then the area has been inhabited successively by Greeks, Romans, Muslims, and Christians.
context_section_description: The area around Alicante has been inhabited for over 7000 years, with the first tribes of hunter gatherers moving down gradually from Central Europe between 5000 and 3000 BC. Some of the earliest settlements were made on the slopes of Mount Benacantil, where the Castillo de Santa Barbara stands today. By 1000 BC Greek and Phoenician traders had begun to visit the eastern coast of Spain, establishing small trading ports and introducing the native Iberian tribes to the alphabet, iron and the pottery wheel. 
  By the 6th century, the rival armies of Carthage and Rome began to invade and fight for control of the Iberian Peninsula. The Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca established the fortified settlement of Akra Leuka (Greek: Ἄκρα Λευκὴ, meaning "White Mountain" or "White Point"), where Alicante stands today.
  Although the Carthaginians conquered much of the land around Alicante, they were in the end no match for the Romans, who established rule in the province for over 700 years. By the 5th century Rome was in decline, and Roman predecessor of Alicante, known as Lucentum (Latin), was more or less under the control of the Visigothic warlord Theudimer. Neither the Romans nor the Goths, however, put up much resistance to the Arab conquest of Medina Laqant in the 8th century, which brought oranges, rice, palms and the gifts of Moorish art and architecture, it was the Moors who gave the city its modern name - Alicante is Arabic for the city of lights. 
  The Moors ruled southern and eastern Spain until the 11th century reconquista (reconquest). Alicante was finally taken in 1246 by the Castilian king Alfonso X, but it passed soon and definitely to the Kingdom of Valencia in 1298 with the Catalan King James II of Aragon. It gained the status of Royal Village (Vila Reial) with representation in the medieval Valencian Parliament.
  After several decades of a battle field between the Kingdom of Castile and the Crown of Aragon, Alicante enjoyed a segle d'or (golden age) during the 15th century together with the whole Kingdom of Valencia, rising to become a major Mediterranean trading station exporting rice, wine, olive oil, oranges and wool. Between 1609 and 1614 King Felipe III expelled thousands of moriscos who had remained in Valencia after the reconquista, due to their allegiance with Berber pirates who continually attacked coastal cities and caused much harm to trade. This act cost the region dearly - with so many skilled artisans and agricultural labourers gone, the feudal nobility found itself sliding into bankruptcy. 
  In the early 18th century Alicante, along with the rest of Valencia, backed Carlos in the War of Spanish Succession. Felipe won, and he punished the whole region by withdrawing the semi-autonomous status it had enjoyed since the time of the reconquista. Alicante went into a long, slow decline, surviving through the 18th and 19th centuries by making shoes and agricultural products such as oranges and almonds, and its fisheries. The end of the 19th century witnessed a sharp recovery of the local economy with increasing international trade and the growth of the city harbour leading to increased exports of several products (particularly during World War I when Spain was a neutral country).
caption: Monjas-Santa Faz Square in Alicante.
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