Spanish archaeologists discover the legendary temple of Hercules Gaditan

Researchers at the University of Seville have been able to locate the long-awaited ruins of the Temple of Hercules Gadetan, a massive building in the Gulf of Cadiz off the southwest coast of the Iberian Peninsula that served as a frequent pilgrimage site in antiquity and then was lost over the centuries.
This was done thanks to a laser rangefinder system – lidar – and digital modeling of the surrounding area.

In Phoenician mythology, the god of navigation and the city of Tira was Melkart, one of the most revered of Phoenician myths, identified by the Greeks as Hercules.
They said that “Tyrian Hercules” was buried in Spain, the temple was erected in his honor by King Hirom, and Herodotus mentioned his visit to the Tyrian temple of Melkart, calling it the Temple of Hercules of Tyria. In other chronicles you can also find references to the visit of Julius Caesar and the Carthaginian conqueror Hannibal to this temple, but for some time all references to this temple ceased.

Now an answer to this riddle may be found. Ricardo Bellison of the University of Seville, located in southern Spain, hypothesized that the ruins of this gigantic structure should be sought at the mouth of the shallow Caño de Sancti Petri, located between the cities of Chiclana de la Frontera and San Fernando in Andalusia. … Now a small island rises above the swamp channel, and for more than two centuries in this area divers have made important archaeological finds that can now be found in the Museum of Cadiz, for example, marble and bronze sculptures of Roman emperors and various statues of the Phoenician period.
Thanks to a free program that allows numerical modeling of the terrain, Pelisson was able to accurately determine the rectangular area with a size of 300 by 150 meters, where, in his opinion, should be the ruins of the temple itself.

This rectangular structure, like the island on which it once stood, matches the ancient descriptions, but they are now
Between 3 and 5 meters under water. According to historical records, one can get to this complex bypassing two columns, the facade of the building itself depicted the exploits of Hercules, and an eternal flame burned inside. The temple area was separated from the present Cape Boqueron by a small canal, and there was also an inland port and a wharf south of the temple, which were also determined by modeling the ancient coast of Cadiz.

The new hypothesis about the site of the temple is consistent with the various discoveries and assumptions made during the 20th century, but there are still several alternative hypotheses pointing to other possible sites.
In the course of upcoming archaeological research and underwater research, it is planned to confirm or refute these conclusions.