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 County, Missouri located in the region. This area was under Spanish rule following France's cession of Louisiana after being defeated in the Seven Years' War. The Spanish named the district after Madrid, the capital of Spain. The county includes a large part of the New Madrid Fault that produced the 1811–12 New Madrid earthquakes. This zone remains geologically active, and had continued to produce smaller earthquakes with some frequency. French Canadians from New France landed in this area in 1781 and established the first European settlement in the present county at New Madrid along the Mississippi River. Later France ceded this area