Punic wall of Cartagena

The Punic wall of Cartagena is an archaeological site from the 3rd century BC in which can be seen the first defensive wall of Cartagena, built by the Carthaginians.This is an important site because it is one of the few remains of Carthaginian civilization in Spain, and the walls bear witness to one of the most important events of Ancient history in the Mediterranean Sea: the Second Punic War.HistoryIn 227 BC, the Carthaginian general Hasdrubal the Fair founded the city of Qart Hadasht, probably on an early Iberian settlement called Mastia. The new city was located on a peninsula in the middle of a bay and had five high hills, two of which were at the entrance of the isthmus, so it had a great position for the military defense.In this context, during the brief period of Punic domain upon Cartagena (227-209 BC), the Carthaginians decided to fortify the Barcid capital in Iberia with a wall that surround the settlement. The presence of this fortification was crucial to prevent a Roman assault led by the brothers Gnaeus and Publius Cornelius Scipio in 216 BC, when the Second Punic War had broken.