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Places in Middle-earth

Minas Anor

Type: Cities, Towns, Settlements

Region: Gondor

Meaning: Tower of the Sun

Other Names Tower of the Setting Sun. Later renamed Minas Tirith - Tower of Guard.

Location: West of the River Anduin, beneath Mount Mindolluin.

Description: The city was built by the Numenorean exiles:
"Other strong places they built also upon either hand: Minas Ithil, the Tower of the Rising Moon, eastward upon a shoulder of the Mountains of Shadow as a threat to Mordor; and to the westward Minas Anor, the Tower of the Setting Sun, at the feet of Mount Mindolluin, as a shield against the wild men of the dales. In Minas Ithil was the house of Isildur, and in Minas Anor the house of Anárion..."
The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age

It was in 1640 that King Tarondor moved the main dwelling place of the Kings from Osgiliath to Minas Anor, planting a seedling of the White Tree in his new home.

In 2043, not long after Minas Ithil fell, Minas Anor was renamed Minas Tirith "...for there the kings caused to be built in the citadel a white tower, very tall and fair, and its eye was upon many lands. Proud still and strong was that city, and in it the White Tree still flowered for a while before the house of the Kings; and there the remnant of the Númenóreans still defended the passage of the River against the terrors of Minas Morgul and against all the enemies of the West, Orcs and monsters and evil Men; and thus the lands behind them, west of Anduin, were protected from war and destruction."
The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age

Contributors: Lyllyn 4.11.04

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