Before it became the capital of Gondor, Minas Tirith was called Minas Anor in J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium. The name means “Tower of the Sun” in Sindarin.
The city was founded by Anárion, who ruled the western side of Gondor while his brother Isildur ruled from Minas Ithil. After Minas Ithil was captured by Sauron’s forces and renamed Minas Morgul, Minas Anor was renamed Minas Tirith, meaning “Tower of Guard.”
Minas Tirith eventually became Gondor’s principal royal city and the seat of its kings and stewards. Readers sometimes confuse it with Osgiliath, the former capital located between the two towers, or with Minas Ithil, its eastern sister city. The city’s many levels and concentric walls are central to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.