Monument commemorating an obscure thing (Seville)

It is not very clear what this monument is dedicated to and it does not provide many clues as to what it commemorates.

The city monument consists of a pedestal with cobblestones at different heights (reminiscent of a certain Berlin intervention) and a series of loose letters in different positions, a marble pedestal and a wrought iron cross . According to the explanation of the town hall, this cross is reminiscent of another cross that stood in this area years ago and symbolizes the place where the nearby Hermandad del Baratillo (Brotherhood of the Baratillo) was founded.

A (twisted) text has been placed on the pedestal that reads: "In the 16th century, Seville, center of the confluence of the world and gateway to the riches flowing up the Guadalquivir, was the starting point of the most important maritime feat in the history of humanity, the first voyage around the world. In 1649, sailors, fishermen and residents of Arenal who died from a plague epidemic were buried in this area, known as Monte del Baratillo. This cross, which is commemorated here, became a place of veneration and devotion that gave rise to the Confraternity of the Cross of Baratillo".

The text, which has neither head nor tail, mixes two stories that have nothing to do with each other . On the one hand, the first world voyage of Magellan-Elcano between 1519 and 1522, and on the other hand, the placing of a cross on this spot in 1649 as a place where the sick of the plague that devastated the city in that terrible year in which the population of Seville decreased by half, were buried.

It is believed that those affected by the plague epidemic are buried in the area. The cross commemorated the common grave.

Willem Vandenameele