Poetic Palindromic Roundabout

A roundabout in Pessac, a suburb of the city of Bordeaux, France, has a very strange and poetic piece of art in the shape of a palindrome verse by 5th century Gaul poet Sidonius Apollinaris. The verse in Latin reads;

SOLE MEDERE PEDE EDE PEREDE MELOS

The verse which itself is a palindrome, is duplicated, thus making it a 'Double Palindrome' and reads same when read from left to right  or vice versa. In English it means: Solo (alone), heal yourself with poetry, compose and recompose your songs.

The poetic sculpture entitled "Travelling" consists of three concentric lines of same palindromes with gradually reducing word size. A tram line cuts through the roundabout and as the verses are repeated in circular pattern on both sides of the track, it can be read by tram passengers travelling in either direction.

The art work which has diameter of 28.8 metres was commissioned in 2004. It is a creation of French sculptor Élisabeth Ballet.

Image Source: Google Maps

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Main source of info: elisabethballet.net (In French) (English Translation) - The page also contains several nice images of the sculpture.

Credits: Felippo, Member, Google Earth Community, for placemarking this location