This city was most likely ancient
Asido, an
Iberian settlement which may have been founded by the
Phoenicians, hence the later name
Sidonia reflecting its foundation by
Sidon. Its earliest phase is known through its coinage and its 2nd and 1st centuries BC issues bear the
Latin inscription
Asido but also
Punic inscriptions such as '
sdn or ''b'b'l
, with Herakles and dolphins being notable obverse and reverse designs. The Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World equates this site with modern Medina Sidonia - lying within the ancient Roman province of Turdetania some inland from the southern Spanish coast, this site lay upon a hill about to the east of Gades (modern Cádiz), and to the west of the Besilus'' river. By the 3rd century BC the Romans had gained control over much of southern Spain; once coming under Roman
hegemony this site was later referred to as Asido Caesarina. In 571, Visigothic king
Liuvigild attacked the
Byzantines and captured Medina Sidonia. In 712, the town was
conquered by the
Muslim commander
Musa ibn Nusayr, and became the capital of the province of Sidonia in the
emirate of Spain, The Palestinian jund (Arabic: جند فلسطين, Jund Filasṭīn; also referred to as Ahl Filasṭīn, meaning “people of Palestine”) was a military division of the early Islamic Caliphate. Following the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in the early 8th century, contingents of the Palestinian jund settled in parts of al-Andalus, including
Jerez and Sidonia. The city was attacked by Vikings in 842. It returned to
Christian hands with
Alfonso X of Castile, in 1264, becoming a stronghold along the frontier with the last Muslim country in the
Iberian Peninsula, the
Kingdom of Granada. It was also the seat of several
military orders. In 1440, it became part of the lordship of the
Dukes of Medina-Sidonia. == Demographics ==