It is known that the palace was built between 293-305 AD, which allows us to associate the palace with the ruling emperor of that tetrarchy, specifically the one in charge of the western part of the empire: Maximianus Herculius.
This is why the Cercadilla Palace is also known as the Palace of Maximianus Herculius.
The date on which Cercadilla was built is known thanks to the stratigraphic sequence, both the relative dating of the sequence itself and the pottery and coins recovered from the foundations of the palace, and above all because an inscription has been found in a thermal bath, all of these information make it possible to date the construction of the monument.
According to archaeological experts such as Rafael Hidalgo Prieto, the Palace may have been built for three reasons; firstly, the possibility that the Cordovan complex was constituted as a private villa; secondly, that it was the seat of the governor of Betica or the vicarius Hispaniarum and, finally, that it was built expressly or used at a second time as an episcopal palace, linked especially to the figure of Osius, bishop of Cordoba and advisor to Constantine. Nevertheless, authors like El Housin Helal Ouriachen defends that studies of archeologists like Rafael Hidalgo could be wrong. Ouriachen explains that Osius did not had a sedentary action in Corduba because his task was to represent the religious interest of the State policy in every place of the Empire. Even further, to Christianize the Empire on that specific area (Corduba) was not an accurate process to make. This author criticizes the studies that were made under the theoretical corpse of Cordoban archeology and explains that a more flexible and less historiographic and economic interest subordinate is necessary.
During the period of its construction, as Cordoba grew in importance and acquired greater political and economic influence and became one of the most important metropolitan centers in the West, it attracted an increasing number of people who, seeking the protection of its walls, longed to prosper along with the city. These new population contingents, as well as the citizens of Cordoba, needed larger spaces in which to settle, as the old walled city had become too small. Thus began a process of urban expansion towards the west in which what is now known as the Cercadilla Archaeological Zone was directly involved.
Apart from its original function, it is known for certain that by at least the mid-6th century the palace had lost its original function to become one of the most important centers of Christian worship in Corduba. However, it is likely that the change of ownership and function from a civil building to a cult building to a building of worship took place at an early point in the 4th century. This new Christian nucleus was organized around the three north-eastern buildings of the palace, namely the poly-lobed aula with a triconch head, the aula with a double apsidal chancel and the basilica aula located immediately to the west. Of these, the most important space was located in the truncated chevet room, the room around which the greatest concentration of burials occurred, due to the desire of the faithful to be buried in the area closest to the sacred precinct.
This new center of Christian worship, which could very well correspond to the martyr basilica of Saint martyr's basilica of San Acisclo, a martyr executed in Cordoba during the Tetrarchic persecutions, remained in use for part of the Islamic domination, specifically tetrarchic persecutions, remained in use during part of the Islamic domination, specifically during the Caliphate. during the Caliphate, subsequently disappearing and, with it, leaving the last spaces of the old palace in complete disuse. The last spaces of the old tetrarchic palace fell completely into disuse.
Cercadilla was abandoned in the 11th century due to the Fitna of 1010 (the civil war of Al Andalus that ended the Caliphate of Cordoba and provoked the appearance of the first kingdoms of tariffs). In the 12th century a building was erected for the production of oil and ceramics. In later centuries the area became an orchard until the first railway station was built in the 19th century. At the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, with the project for a high-speed railway line between Madrid and Seville passing through Cordoba, the station, its location and the burying of the tracks were rethought, which led to the destruction of a large part of the heritage of the Cercadilla archaeological sites. Nowadays, after being open to the public for a few years, Cercadilla is closed and apparently forgotten.
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| Aerial view of the archeological place. Source: El País |
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