Valencia History Tour

A century later, at the same time as the first waves of Germanic invaders arrived and in response the power vacuum bequeathed by the Romans, the church took the reins of the city, replacing ancient Roman temples with Christian places of worship. In the sixth century, during the time of Bishop Justinian, Valentia recovered its former glory to some extent. Urban decline was momentarily halted and the city played host to an important regional council. The city acquired a strategic importance following the Byzantine invasion of the south east of the Iberian peninsula in 554 with Visigoth armies using it as a base and fortifying the ancient Roman amphitheatre. The expulsion of the Byzantines in 625 heralded a dark period and what little documentation there is suggests that the city developed little during this period.