Palacio de Maximiano Hercúleo

Ruins in Córdoba

Palacio De Maximiano Herculeo Cordoba — CC BY-SA 3.0 / Américo Toledano

The Palacio de Maximiano Hercúleo or Palace of Emperor Maximianus Herculeus is a ruined palace was recently unearthed in the northwest corner of the city of Corduba. It dates from the time of the Roman emperor Maximianus Herculeus, who visited Spain between the years 296 and 297 A.D.

Palacio de Maximiano Hercúleo was built on top of a suburban villa from the high Imperial period, and in the time of the Visigoths it was converted into the basilica of the Martyr San Acisclo.

At the end of the third century, this area of the city underwent a very complex urban transformation as a consequence of the construction of the vast palatine complex, of more than eight hectares, which undoubtedly had a great impact on Cordoba at the time.

The complex, four hundred meters long by two hundred wide, is structured from a semicircular portico, whose gallery gives access to different passages and buildings attached to it, among which the Central Hall stands out, a building with a basilic floor plan with an apse .

The main building of the entire complex, the one that presides over it, is the large reception hall located in the center of the entire palace, with a basilica plan. On both sides there are banquet rooms, hot springs, nymphs and classrooms that may have served as audience rooms for important court figures or officials related to the administration of Hispania. The most western building of the whole complex and the one that is farthest from the entrance to it is the one known as the “imperial apartments” and that due to its constructive design,