Puerta de Córdoba (Seville)

Historical context

If the wall of la la Macarena was saved from demolition thanks to the intervention of José Gestoso that achieved its consideration as a National Monument in 1908, the Puerta de Córdoba still stands for other reasons more closely related to the history of the city. Have to go back to the 6th century to track why the importance of this monument in Seville. That century was ruled by the Visigoth reign, Liuvigild the king who succeeded in uniting again much of the Iberian Peninsula, he marry to his son Hermenegild with the Frank princess Ingund in the year 579. Hermenegild was named governor of the province of Baetica, where both his wife as bishop Saint Leander managed to become the Catholic faith abandoned the Arianism that professed the Visigoth monarchy. This was considered as an offense to his father and began a civil war in which were involved all kingdoms with presence in the Peninsula in favor of one or the other. After being abandoned by his allies, Hermenegild had no choice but to flee from Seville to Córdoba where he found his brother Reccared that brought him to his father. After being imprisoned in Valencia, Hermenegild was killed in 585 in Valencia, without knowing very well who ordered his death, although suspicion always went to his own family.

In the 6th century Seville remained a Roman city that did not reach beyond the present church of Santa Catalina. However, history has pardoned the Puerta de Córdoba by the idea that in their dependencies was imprisoned Saint Hermenegild, something that never really happened since this gate would take several centuries to build. To understand why the misunderstanding must return to the 19th century when there was a firm belief that the walls were of Roman times, a belief that came from long before and had become legend in reality. If the walls of la Macarena were Roman and Saint Hermenegild was the great Christian king who gave up his live to defend the Catholic faith, Seville must have a witness to such greatness. And the choice was the Puerta de Córdoba, where today there is still a small medieval chapel covered with a Mudéjar coffered ceiling where according to tradition was imprisoned Saint Hermenegild. Will this gate was built on an ancient chapel dedicated to the martyr Hermenegild? It is a chance to explain that despite the passage of centuries has been kept as a place of worship in his honor.

To the enclosure can be accessed from the church itself and behind the door it find an open courtyard where perfectly preserved the monumental structure of one of the gates to the Muslim city.

The construction of the present Church of San Hermenegildo was completed in the year 1616 so that in 2016 is its fourth centenary. This ephemeris wants to be used by the Brotherhood to publicize his history and open to the public the Puerta de Córdoba, a project that has on the table for years but that fails to materialize, partly because of the difficulty of museumization an asset so characteristic.