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Peñíscola is a walled city on a rock jutting into the sea. It was a port for Phoenicians and Greeks, a Templar fortress and, for a few years in the 15th century, the seat of a pope: Benedict XIII, the Papa Luna.
The sites of Poaig and Els Barrancs show Iberian settlement by the Ilercavones. Phoenicians and Greeks arrived by sea and called it Chersonesus, followed by Carthaginians, Romans and Byzantines. The present name derives from the Latinisation of that name.
James I besieged it for two months in 1225 without taking it. In 1233 he occupied it through a peaceful conquest, with pacts respecting Muslim customs, and on 28 January 1251 he granted the settlement charter under the law of Valencia.
Between 1294 and 1307 the Templar castle was built on the old Arab citadel, promoted by Berenguer de Cardona and Arnaldo de Banyuls. Pedro Martínez de Luna, Benedict XIII, entered Peñíscola on 21 July 1411, made the castle a papal seat and died there on 23 May 1423. His successor Clement VIII, Gil Sánchez Muñoz, ruled between 1424 and 1429, and his resignation ended the schism.
The Renaissance walls, designed by Giovanni Battista Antonelli, were finished in 1578. In the War of the Spanish Succession the city endured a two-year siege and Philip V later granted it city status.
On 2 February 1812 Marshal Suchet took it, and on 25 May 1814 Francisco Javier de Elío recovered it after an intense bombardment. The fishing harbour was completed in 1922. After the Civil War tourism became its main activity, and it has been the setting for films such as El Cid.
Text written by Zona Zero TV from public sources; early dates vary between authors. Sources: Peñíscola (Hispanopedia, basado en Wikipedia, CC BY-SA). Checked on 1/11/2026.
