Long before Seville became the Roman Hispalis, tradition placed the origins of the city in the hands of a legendary figure: Hercules. Behind this famous story lies the memory of Melkart, a Phoenician navigator and hero whose name would eventually become linked to one of Seville's oldest foundation legends.
THE ILLUSTRATED LEGEND
Discover the story through our illustrated audiovisual version.
HOW HERCULES FOUNDED SEVILLE
The legendary origin of Hispalis.
According to Sevillian tradition, the story begins many centuries before the Roman city of Hispalis existed, when Phoenician navigators crossed the Mediterranean and ventured beyond the Strait of Gibraltar in search of new lands and commercial routes. Among them was Melkart, a legendary Phoenician hero who entered the mouth of the Guadalquivir and sailed upriver towards the lands where Seville would eventually rise.
The tradition tells that Melkart recognised the advantages of this strategic position beside the river and established a commercial settlement there. Its legendary location has been associated with the area around today's El Salvador, Rosario and Pescadería, in the heart of modern Seville. From this trading post, commerce based especially on hides and leather prospered, giving rise in the legend to the settlement that would later become Hispalis.
The story then enters fully into mythology. The lands of the far West were also linked to Geryon, the legendary ruler whose cattle would later appear in one of the famous adventures attributed to Hercules. According to the tradition, Melkart confronted and defeated Geryon, taking control of his cattle and strengthening his power in these western territories.
Over the centuries, Mediterranean cultures increasingly identified their gods and heroes with one another. The Phoenician Melkart became associated with the Greek Heracles and later with the Roman Hercules. In this way, the ancient Phoenician figure gradually became the Hercules remembered by tradition as the mythical founder of Seville.
Other stories were incorporated into his legend, including the opening of the Strait of Gibraltar and the creation of the Columns of Hercules, traditionally regarded as the boundary between the Mediterranean world and the unknown Atlantic.
The passage of centuries did not erase Hercules from Seville's memory. His connection with the city became so deeply rooted that it is still visible today in the Alameda de Hércules, where two great Roman columns were erected in the 16th century, one crowned by a statue of Hercules and the other by Julius Caesar.
Hercules therefore belongs not only to classical mythology, but also to the cultural memory of Seville. His story represents the legendary beginning of a city whose real origins are far more complex, but whose inhabitants have preserved this ancient tradition for centuries.
BETWEEN HISTORY AND LEGEND
What belongs to tradition and what can be considered historical?
The foundation of Seville by Hercules belongs to tradition and mythology and should not be understood as a documented historical event. The story combines memories of Phoenician presence in the western Mediterranean with the ancient figure of Melkart and his later identification with the Greek Heracles and Roman Hercules.
The origins of Seville are the result of a long and complex historical process involving different peoples and cultures. The Hercules tradition, however, became firmly rooted in the city's identity and remains visible in its symbols, monuments and popular memory.
PODCAST VERSION
Prefer to listen? Discover the story in its original podcast version.
SOURCE AND ADAPTATION
Adapted for Sevilla Ciudad Mágica from the Sevillian tradition collected by José María de Mena in Tradiciones y Leyendas Sevillanas.
Seville is not only discovered through its monuments and streets.
Its legends are also part of its history and cultural memory.
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