Cartagena, Lat. Carthago
Nova, city, Murcia prov., SE Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea. A
major seaport and naval base, it has a fine natural harbor, protected by
forts, with a naval arsenal and important shipbuilding and metallurgical
industries. Lead, iron, and zinc are mined and processed nearby, but the
rich silver mines exploited in ancient times by Carthaginians and Romans are
now almost exhausted. The city is an episcopal see. It was founded by
Hasdrubal c.225 b.c. and soon became a flourishing port, the chief
Carthaginian base in Spain. Captured (209 b.c.) by Scipio Africanus
Major, it continued to flourish under the Romans. The Moors, who took it in
the 8th cent., later included it in Murcia. The Spaniards recovered it
definitively in the 13th cent. Cartagena was sacked (1585) by Sir Francis
Drake and figured later in the Peninsular and Carlist wars. It served as the
Loyalist naval base during the civil war (1936–39). In the 20th cent.
it suffered from the competition of other Mediterranean ports (e.g.,
Barcelona, Málaga, and Valencia). The medieval Castillo de la
Concepción, whose ruins are surrounded by fine gardens, commands a
splendid view of the city and harbor. No traces of the ancient city
remain.
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