Port Hercules (French:Port Hercule[pɔʁɛʁkyl]) is the only deep-water port inMonaco. The port has been in use since ancient times. The modern port was completed in 1926, and underwent substantial improvements in the 1970s. It covers almost 40 acres (160,000 m2), enough to provide anchorage for up to 700 vessels. The port is located in theLa Condamine district. Harbour pilots are required for all vessels longer than 30 metres. The depth of water in the harbour ranges from seven metres for standard berths and up to 40 metres for the outer piers and cruise ship docks.[1]
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During the 6th-century BC.Phocaeans Greeks from Massalia (modern dayMarseille) founded the colony ofMònoikos.[2] The name of the colony derives from the local veneration of theGreek demigod and mythological heroHercules, also later adopted by the Romans, who was said to have constructed the ancient path that passed through the region from Spain to Italy.[2] TheRoman emperorJulian also wrote of Hercules's construction of Monaco's port and a coastal road.[3] The road was dotted with altars to Hercules, and a temple dedicated to him was established on the Rock of Monaco. The name Port Hercules was subsequently used for the ancient port.[2]Monoeci meaning "Single One" orMonoikos meaning "Single House" could be a reference to Hercules or his temple, or the isolated community inhabiting the area around the rock.[2]
According to the "travels of Hercules" theme, also documented byDiodorus Siculus andStrabo, both Greeks and nativeLigurian people asserted thatHercules passed through the area.
After theGallic Wars,Monoecus, which served as a stopping-point forJulius Caesar on his way to campaign inGreece, fell underRoman control as part of the MaritimeAlps province (Gallia Transalpina).
The Roman poetVirgil called it "that castled cliff, Monoecus by the sea" (Aeneid, VI.830). The commentatorServius's use of the passage (in R. Maltby,Lexicon of Ancient Latin Etymologies, Leeds) asserts, under the entryportus, that the epithet was derived:
dictus autem Monoecus vel quod pulsis omnibus illic solus habitavit, vel quod in eius templo numquam aliquis deorum simul colitur.
"either because Hercules drove off everyone else and lived there alone, or because in his temple no other of the gods is worshipped at the same time."
No temple to Hercules has been found at Monaco (see alsoLucan 1.405.), although the rocky ground and dense conurbation make future excavations unlikely.
The port is mentioned inPliny the Elder'sNatural History (III.v) and inTacitus'Histories (III.42), whenFabius Valens was forced to put into the port (Fabius Valens e sinu Pisano segnitia maris aut adversante vento portum Herculis Monoeci depellitur).
In 2010, the Finnish manufacturer of marinas and pontoonsMarinetek [fi] was hired to deliver three new pontoons to Port Hercule. Monaco's old fixed piers were replaced by Marinetek's floating concrete pontoons. The renovation was completed in 2011.[4]
In 2011,Jean Michel Jarre performed a freeconcert in front of 85,000 spectators, to celebrate the wedding ofPrince Albert II and Charlene Wittstock.
The Port Hercule is home to theFoire de Monaco, an annual fair that runs from October to November.[5]
In 1995, the harbour was used as a location in theJames Bond filmGoldenEye. Bond (played for the first time byPierce Brosnan) tries to stop the villainousXenia Onatopp (Famke Janssen) from stealing a helicopter, but she escapes when Bond is foiled by the local police who are unaware of who he is.[6]
