Luxury Condo in Ermanno Palace

The iconic Port Hercule

Port Hercules (French: Port Hercule) is the only deep-water port in Monaco. The port has been in use since ancient times.

During the 6th-century BC. Phocaeans from Massalia (modern-day Marseille) founded the colony of Monoikos. The name of the colony derives from the local veneration of the Greek demigod Hercules, also later adopted by the Romans, who was said to have constructed the ancient path that passed through the region from Spain to Italy. The Roman emperor Julian also wrote of Hercules’s construction of Monaco’s port and a coastal road. 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. Monoeci meaning “Single One” or Monoikos meaning “Single House” could be a reference to Hercules or his temple, or the isolated community inhabiting the area around the rock.

The port is mentioned in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History (III.v) and in Tacitus’ Histories (III.42), when Fabius Valens was forced to put into the port.

In 1995, the harbour was used as a location in the James Bond film GoldenEye. Bond (played for the first time by Pierce Brosnan) tries to stop the villainous Xenia 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.

Luxury Condo in Ermanno Palace, Monaco, a Superb 3 Rooms, 2 Bedrooms For Residential and/or Office Use. Presented by Finest International