Valencia - Name

Name

The original Latin name of the city was Valentia (Latin pronunciation: ), meaning "strength", or "valour", the city being named according to the Roman practice of recognizing the valour of former Roman soldiers after a war. The Roman historian Livy explains that the founding of Valentia in the 2nd century BC was due to the settling of the Roman soldiers who fought against an Iberian rebel, Viriato. During the rule of the Muslim kingdoms in Spain, it was called Medina at-Turab (مدينة التراب, 'City of Sands'), since it was located on the banks of the River Turia, while the term Balansiyya (بلنسية) was reserved for the entire Taifa of Valencia. By gradual sound changes, Valentia has become Valencia in the Castilian and València in Valencian (in Valencian the grave accent <è> /ɛ/ contrasts with the acute accent <é> /e/, nevertheless the word 'València' is an exception to this rule which is spelled according to Catalan etymology, though it uses a pronunciation closer to Vulgar Latin).