In with the new: The Alameda de Hércules, past and present

This post is by Yvonne Marquez, a magazine journalism major from the University of Texas at Austin. During the fall 2011 semester she is participating in the Communication, New Media and Journalism program at the CIEE Study Center in Seville.

During my first couple of weeks in Seville, I didn’t know my way around the city very much. I learned the route from my home stay to CIEE headquarters and back, but one day I took a wrong turn. I wandered the streets and finally whipped out my map and found a route that led to my house. As I walked down a bigger road it led me to a huge plaza I had never seen before. The signs around the parameters read: Alameda de Hércules.

The south end of the Alameda de Hércules

As I strolled down the plaza, I took in all the sights and sounds. Young moms and nannies pushed their babies in strollers. Small mobs of children ran wildly after a soccer ball. Dogs trotted alongside their owners. A man with dreads was singing and playing the guitar. Friends were laughing in the many bars and cafés lining the plaza. It seemed I had discovered an endless stretch of leisure.

As weeks passed, I found myself walking through the Alameda all the time. I enjoy people watching and learned a lot from just observing life at this place. I realized I was drawn to this center because it is so different from what I saw in the centro.

Children watching a juggler perform at the North end of La Alameda

The Alameda has a bohemian atmosphere that reminds me a lot of Austin, Texas, which is where I go to school. The people have a laid back attitude that makes you want to join them on one of the many benches dotting the plaza. To the locals, the Alameda is known as the hangout of alternative or liberal minded people. There are several gay bars, cafés and clubs around the zone that contribute to its alternative status, as well as the many Spanish university students who frequent the Alameda at night. There’s also a visible hippie culture.

It’s funny though, la Alameda is older than the United States. It was built in 1574 as a public garden and was named after the rows of white poplar trees that filled the center. It originated as a project to remedy a swampland left behind from a part of the Guadalquivir River. The Count of Barajas drained the floodwater and built irrigation canals and fountains to create the park.

Two columns at each end of the Alameda welcome you to the plaza. The ones on the southern end were actually taken from the remains from a Roman temple and were crowned with statues of Hercules, the mythological founder of Seville, and Julius Cesar, the real founder of Seville during Roman rule. The northern columns are replicas of the original Roman columns and are crowned with statues of a lion and shield representing Seville and Spain.

Columns at the north end of La Alameda

Every time I walk through the Alameda it astounds me: A place that is as old as my country is also the setting of a modern world with contemporary movements and ideas. It has seen and experienced so much and keeps serving the people of Sevilla. It has spunk and personality and is not for everyone. The Alameda is just one of my favorite places in Sevilla that I was lucky to stumble upon.

Hand painted wall located inside a convent in Osuna, a small town outside of Sevilla, depicting life at the Alameda in the 17th century

Photos by Yvonne Marquez

Comments

[oscar ceballos]

Very nice post Yvonne! I live here.
óscar ceballos