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Tower of Hercules
Native names Galician: Torre de Hércules Spanish: Torre de Hércules
Location	Coruña, Galicia, Spain
Coordinates	43°23′9″N 8°24′23″W / 43.38583°N 8.40639°W / 43.38583; -8.40639Coordinates: 43°23′9″N 8°24′23″W / 43.38583°N 8.40639°W / 43.38583; -8.40639
Elevation	57 metres (187 ft)
Built	2nd century CE
Visitors	149,440[1] (in 2009)
Governing body	Ministry of Culture
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name: Tower of Hercules
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iii
Designated	2009 (33rd session)
Reference no.	1312
Region	Europe and North America
Spanish Property of Cultural Interest
Official name: Torre de Hércules
Type	Royal property
Criteria	Monument
Designated	3 June 1931
Reference no.	(R.I.) - 51 - 0000540 - 00000
Site of the Tower of Hercules in Galicia

The Tower of Hercules (Galician and Spanish: Torre de Hércules) is an ancient Roman lighthouse on a peninsula about 2.4 kilometers (1.5 mi) from the centre of A Coruña, Galicia, in north-western Spain. Until the 20th century, the tower itself was known as the "Farum Brigantium". The Latin word farum is derived from the Greek pharos for the Lighthouse of Alexandria. The structure is 55 metres (180 ft) tall and overlooks the North Atlantic coast of Spain. The structure, built in the 2nd century and renovated in 1791, is the oldest Roman lighthouse in use today.

There is a sculpture garden featuring works by Pablo Serrano and Francisco Leiro.^[2]

The Tower of Hercules is a National Monument of Spain, and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since June 27, 2009.^[3] It is the second-tallest lighthouse in Spain, after the Faro de Chipiona.

Construction and history

The tower is known to have existed by the 2nd century, built or perhaps rebuilt under Trajan, possibly on foundations following a design that was Phoenician in origin. It is thought to be modeled after the Lighthouse of Alexandria. Its base preserves a cornerstone with the inscription MARTI AUG.SACR C.SEVIVS LVPVS ARCHTECTVS AEMINIENSIS LVSITANVS.EX.VO, permitting the original lighthouse tower to be ascribed to the architect Gaius Sevius Lupus, from Aeminium (present-day Coimbra, Portugal) in the former province of Lusitania, as an offering dedicated to the Roman god of war, Mars. The tower has been in constant use since the 2nd century and is considered to be the oldest extant lighthouse. The base of the building has 18 sides, the tower is 4 sided, continuing to be 7 sided, then 5 sides with a final dome on top.

The earliest known reference to the lighthouse at Brigantium is by Paulus Orosius in Historiae adversum Paganos written around 415–417:

Secundus angulus circium intendit, ubi Brigantia Gallaeciae civitas sita altissimum farum et inter pauca memorandi operis ad speculam Britanniae erigit ("At the second angle of the circuit circumnavigating Hispania, where the Gallaecian city of Brigantia is sited, a very tall lighthouse is erected among a few commemorative works, for looking towards Britannia.")

Plan and elevation, from Joseph Cornide, Investigaciones sobre la fundación y fábrica de la torre llamada de Hércules, 1792

In 1788, the original 34-metre (112 ft), three-storey tower was given a neoclassical restoration, including a new 21-metre (69 ft) fourth storey.^[3] The restoration was undertaken by naval engineer Eustaquio Giannini during the reign of Charles III of Spain, and was finished in 1791.^[3] Within, the much-repaired Roman and medieval masonry may be inspected.

The Romans who conquered this region of Spain believed it to be, in a figurative sense, the end of the earth—whence its name, Finisterra. This region is notorious for shipwrecks, earning it the name Costa da Morte, "Coast of Death".

Myths

Through the millennia many mythical stories of the lighthouse's origin have been told. According to a myth that mixes Celtic and Greco-Roman elements, the hero Hercules slew the giant tyrant Geryon after three days and three nights of continuous battle. Hercules then—in a Celtic gesture—buried the head of Geryon with his weapons and ordered that a city be built on the site. The lighthouse atop a skull and crossbones representing the buried head of Hercules’ slain enemy appears in the coat-of-arms of the city of Coruña.

Another legend embodied in the 11th-century Irish compilation Lebor Gabála Érenn—the "Book of Invasions"—King Breogán, the founding father of the Galician Celtic nation, constructed a massive tower of such a grand height that his sons could see a distant green shore from its top. The glimpse of that distant green land lured them to sail north to Ireland. According to the legend Breogán's descendants stayed in Ireland and are the Celtic ancestors of the current Irish people. A colossal statue of Breogán has been erected near the Tower.

Possible locations of Brigantia

The Tower of Hercules, in the coat of arms of Corunna

Breogán and the Tower of Hercules

View of the surrounding park.

Early geographical descriptions on the location of Brigantia point out that the town could be actually located in Corunna or in the locality of the modern town of Betanzos. There is some debate about this, as the people from Betanzos claim it as a fact that Betanzos was referred to as "the former city of Brigancia"^{[citation needed]} until the 17th century, both in literary accounts as well as in maps, and they also believe that the name Betanzos is a phonetical evolution from Brigantium > Breganzo > Betanzos. This, however, could be a false etymology.

The Betanzos tradition claims that the port of Betanzos was getting too small for the larger mediaeval ships, and that king Alfonso IX of León decided to create a bigger port nearby in the 13th century. The place he chose was an uninhabited place called Clunia, which later on evolved to Cruña and Coruña, and so (in English) to Corunna. The place name Clunia is believed to come from the Proto-Celtic root *klou̯ni (cf. Old Irish cluain), meaning meadow.

However, the Coruña tradition maintains that the "port" of Betanzos (which is a fluvial one, in a quite small river) was far too small for Roman warships to dock at—for example when Julius Caesar visited this area ^[4] with "more than a hundred triremes". It is demonstrated that Corunna was an important Roman site, as graveyards and other Roman remains have been found in the city center,^[5][6] demonstrating that the site was inhabited in the Roman period, and was deserted only during the early Middle Ages due to Viking attacks, when its people moved inland to O Burgo (now Culleredo). The proponents of Corunna also explain the different name as a change that occurred in the Middle Ages, and point out the fact that the lighthouse, which was called "Pharum Brigantium", was erected in Corunna, and is at least 25 km walking distance (or a whole day's journey) from Betanzos.

See also

• Roman architecture


• Roman engineering


• Roman technology


• List of Roman sites in Spain


• List of World Heritage Sites in Spain


• List of lighthouses in Spain

Other use of the name

A medieval watchtower in Segovia also bears the name "Tower of Hercules".^[7]

References

Specific references

General references

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Torre de Hércules.

• Torre photo


• Official website


• Images of the Roman Tower of Hercules and futuristic visual legends


• 
  Historical timeline of the Tower of Brigantia, from galicianflag.com