Lastigi was an ancient Tartessian city in southern Spain, settled by the Romans in the 2nd century BC. It is mentioned by

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

in his ''

Natural History Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

'' as lying on the Menoba River (

Guadiamar The Guadiamar is a river of Andalusia, Spain, and a tributary of the Guadalquivir. Its course runs entirely within the Province of Seville, flowing from Sierra Morena through the eastern border of Doñana National Park. Its source is in Dehesa del ...

) near the towns of

Laelia ''Laelia'' is a small genus of 25 species in the orchid family (Orchidaceae). ''Laelia'' species are found in areas of subtropical or temperate climate in Central America, Central and South America, but mostly in Mexico. ''Laelia'' is abbreviat ...

and Olontigi. He mentions it again as a town in the Celtic region, whose boundaries are not clear, but may extend from

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

to the

Guadiana The Guadiana River ( , , , ) is an international river defining a long stretch of the Portugal-Spain border, separating Extremadura and Andalusia (Spain) from Alentejo and Algarve (Portugal). The river's basin extends from la Mancha and the e ...

. Its exact location has been debated by historians since the 19th century. The following sites have been proposed, in chronological order: *

Zahara de la Sierra Zahara de la Sierra is a municipality in the province of Cádiz in the hills of Andalusia, southern Spain. It is perched on a mountain, overlooking a valley and a man-made lake formed by the dam that must be driven over to access the town. It is c ...

, in the

Sierra de Grazalema Grazalema is a village located in the northeastern part of the province of Cádiz, in the autonomous community of Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, ...

Province of Cádiz Cádiz is a Provinces of Spain, province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is the southernmost part of mainland Spain, as well as the southernmost part of ...

; proposed by Rodrigo Caro, on the basis of Pliny's second mention of the town in the same list as Arunda (

Ronda Ronda () is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is about 35,000. Ronda is known for its cliffside location and a deep canyon that ca ...

), Acinipo, etc. However, the same list includes Aruci and Turobriga, near

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. * Castuera,

Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...

; proposed by Miguel Cortés y López, on the basis of Pliny's second list, despite its broad range. *On the Guadiamar, near

Aznalcóllar Aznalcóllar is a city located in the province of Seville, southern Spain. It is located at the feet of the Sierra Morena. Aznalcollar mine The Boliden mine produces around 125,000 tonnes of zinc and 2.9 million ounces of silver per year. ...

; proposed by Antonio Delgado, who suggested downstream sites for Laelia (Cortijo de la Pisana or Pizana) and Olontigi (

Aznalcázar Aznalcázar is a town located in the province of Seville, southern Spain. It is only 20 minutes away from Seville, and is one of the 13 towns located in Doñana National Park, one of Spain's most important national parks and wildlife reserves. ...

). *The coast of

Huelva Huelva ( , , ) is a municipality of Spain and the capital of the Huelva (province), province of Huelva, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. Located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits betwee ...

; proposed by Francisco Mateos Gago. *Dehesa de Crespín (or Crispín), west of the confluence of the Agrio and Guadiamar rivers, between Aznalcóllar and Olivares; proposed by historian Juan Cuveiro Piñol, on the basis of Pliny's first mention of the Menoba river. *Cerro de la Cabeza, near Olivares, proposed by numismatic researcher Leandre Villaronga, but this site most likely corresponds to Laelia. *Los Merineros, near Aznalcóllar, a Roman settlement which has been researched as a potential site since the 1930s. *Dehesa de la Sierra, near Aznalcóllar, about 3 km east of

Tejada la Vieja Tejada may refer to: *Tejada (surname) *Tejada, Province of Burgos, Castile and León, Spain *Lerdo de Tejada (Monterrey Metro) *Puerto Tejada, Cauca, Colombia *Taifa of Tejada, medieval kingdom in modern Spain See also

*Tejeda (disambiguation ...

, a large area of ruins found by Juan Antonio Figueras in 2009 and verified by

LiDAR Lidar (, also LIDAR, an acronym of "light detection and ranging" or "laser imaging, detection, and ranging") is a method for determining ranging, ranges by targeting an object or a surface with a laser and measuring the time for the reflected li ...

by Manuel Hidalgo in 2022. As of 2024, scholarly consensus is that this is the most likely site. The idea that Pliny might have referred to two towns with the same name is generally rejected. Numismatic evidence places Lastigi near Laelia and Olontigi and rejects the hypotheses of Zahara and Castuera. The ore-rich area around

and the navigability of the Guadiamar support the notion that these cities lie in this region along the river.

References

{{reflist Tartessos Roman towns and cities in Spain Former populated places in Spain Lost ancient cities and towns