Osgiliath was the old capital city of Gondor. The city straddled the Anduin River at a point approximately half way between the cities of Minas Anor to the southwest and Minas Ithil to the northeast, and north of the nearby Emyn Arnen. In its days of glory, the city featured quays to handle sea-going vessels that came up from the sea, a great stone bridge supporting houses and towers of stone, and the Dome of Stars, which housed the Osgiliath-stone, the greatest of the seven Palantíri.
The beginning of the city's decline came in T.A. 1437 when it was sacked and burned, after a siege by the rebel Castamir's forces during the Kin-strife. It was during this siege that the Osgiliath-stone was lost in the River. The Great Plague of T.A. 1636 led to further depopulation, and the city began to fall into ruin; the capital was moved to the more secure Minas Anor. Over the next few hundred years, Gondor endured many military defeats east of the Anduin, especially the fall of Minas Ithil in T.A. 2002. Osgiliath became vulnerable to attack and was widely believed to be haunted, as its population continued to shrink. Osgiliath was finally abandoned by the remaining civilian population after being captured (temporarily) by Uruk-hai in T.A. 2475.
Special Features:
- Main vegetation: grassland
- Special units: none
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