Hercules, Caesar and Mondaine

22 May 2009

One kilometer due north of our apartment is Alameda de Hercules. Two huge pillars dominate the south side of this large open area. At the top of the pillars are statues of Hercules and Caesar. I encountered this area about a week after we arrived and I've been back several times since.

It is not an especially wonderful place; in fact, it feels a bit odd to me in some way, not unlike Leonard Cohen's voice. (I've been listening to "famous blue raincoat" over and over again these past few days. Brilliant lyrics; excellent guitar playing; fantastic background vocals; and Leonard.)

I have questions and I need answers. Why Hercules? Why Caesar? Okay, by myth and legend, these figures are considered the founding fathers of Sevilla. The wall statues shown at left (Hercules) and at right (Caesar) are from the Sevilla city hall building. So what's the story behind these giant pillars? Where did they come from? And what are they doing here?

And why is this space so large but all uniformly paved? And who's idea was it to add this bizarre little pillar with a Mondaine clock? (Here, we mark the passage of time in millenia, centuries, and minutes!) And what happens to the giant pillars (and to Hercules and Caesar) if there is an earthquake!!! I've poked around as best I can looking for clues. Some of the questions have answers; others remain puzzles.

The pillars are from a 2nd century Roman temple. They were moved from Mármoles street, about a kilometer away. There are three similar pillars still standing on a vacant lot on that street. These five are believed to be the oldest major artifacts in Sevilla. The Alameda de Hercules site was formerly a branch of the Rio Guadalquivir that was drained in the 16th century and the pillars were moved there then. The statues were placed on top of the pillars in 1754. Or maybe it was 1574. The sources I've seen differ. One of the authors may be dyslexic!

I went around town today looking for other evidence of antiquities. Several were found without much effort. A bit of an old aqueduct is in the middle of a busy boulevard in a modern part of Sevilla (east of the old city). Old mill wheels are visible as foundational stones on some buildings in the Barrio Santa Cruz. Marble columns are scattered around town; I'm guessing that these are reused building materials whose origin dates back to Roman times.

We understand that Sevilla gets extremely hot in the summertime, especially July and August. Scattered around the open plaza area of Alameda de Hercules are water fountains designed to be walked through. These fountains have only been on a few times while we've been here; the bottom photo shows one such time. The girl on the bench appears to be an amateur juggler, judging from the equipment on her bike. She doesn't seem concerned about Hercules, Caesar, or Mondaine.