History of Madrid "Madrid" evolved from the Mozarabic "Matrit", which is still in the Madrilenian gentilic. The site of modern-day Madrid has been controlled since prehistoric times, and archaeological research found a small Visigothic village nearby. In the mid-9th century, Muhammad I of Córdoba constructed a small castle where the Palacio Real stands today. The Moors built a citadel, al-Mudayna, around this castle. They named the area after the nearby Manzanares River, which the Muslims called al-Majrīṭ (Arabic: "source of water"). From this came the name "Majerit", later spelled "Madrid". The Moors controlled the citadel until Alfonso VI of León and Castile conquered
New Madrid, Missouri make a more direct channel, leaving the Kentucky territory as an island. New Madrid was the epicenter of the very powerful 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes. New Madrid was founded in about 1778 by Spanish Governor Bernardo de Gálvez, who was appointed to rule Spanish Louisiana (the land west of the Mississippi River). He welcomed settlers from the United States, but required them to become citizens of Spain. In addition, they had to agree to live under the guidance of his appointed empresario, Colonel William Morgan, an American Revolutionary War veteran from New Jersey. Morgan recruited a number of American families