The
Tower of Hercules (
GalicianGalician can refer to:* Galician language, of Galicia * Galician people, an ethnic group of Galicia, Spain* Galician wine, wine produced in Galicia, Spain- See also :* Galicia * Music of Galicia, Cantabria and Asturias...
and
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
:
Torre de Hércules) is an
ancient RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
lighthouseA lighthouse is a tower, building, or framework designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire and used as an aid to navigation and to pilots at sea....
on a peninsula about 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the centre of
A CoruñaA Coruña is the second largest city in Galicia in northwestern Spain, second only in size to the port of Vigo in Pontevedra Province. The city is the capital of A Coruña Province...
, Galicia, in north-western
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
. The name
CorunnaA Coruña is the second largest city in Galicia in northwestern Spain, second only in size to the port of Vigo in Pontevedra Province. The city is the capital of A Coruña Province...
is said to be derived from the ancient
columna, meaning
column. The structure is tall and overlooks the North Atlantic coast of Spain. It is almost 1900 years old, was rehabilitated in 1791, and is the oldest Roman lighthouse still used as a lighthouse.
The Tower of Hercules is a National Monument of Spain and since 27 June 2009 is also a
UNESCO World Heritage Site- UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Andalusia :- UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Aragon :- UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Asturias :- UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Balearic Islands :...
.
It is the second tallest lighthouse in Spain, after the Faro de Chipiona.
The tower remains a sentinel from days long past.
The
Tower of Hercules (
GalicianGalician can refer to:* Galician language, of Galicia * Galician people, an ethnic group of Galicia, Spain* Galician wine, wine produced in Galicia, Spain- See also :* Galicia * Music of Galicia, Cantabria and Asturias...
and
SpanishSpanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
:
Torre de Hércules) is an
ancient RomanAncient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
lighthouseA lighthouse is a tower, building, or framework designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire and used as an aid to navigation and to pilots at sea....
on a peninsula about 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the centre of
A CoruñaA Coruña is the second largest city in Galicia in northwestern Spain, second only in size to the port of Vigo in Pontevedra Province. The city is the capital of A Coruña Province...
, Galicia, in north-western
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
. The name
CorunnaA Coruña is the second largest city in Galicia in northwestern Spain, second only in size to the port of Vigo in Pontevedra Province. The city is the capital of A Coruña Province...
is said to be derived from the ancient
columna, meaning
column. The structure is tall and overlooks the North Atlantic coast of Spain. It is almost 1900 years old, was rehabilitated in 1791, and is the oldest Roman lighthouse still used as a lighthouse.
The Tower of Hercules is a National Monument of Spain and since 27 June 2009 is also a
UNESCO World Heritage Site- UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Andalusia :- UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Aragon :- UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Asturias :- UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Balearic Islands :...
.
It is the second tallest lighthouse in Spain, after the Faro de Chipiona.
Construction and history
The tower remains a sentinel from days long past. It is known to have existed by the 2nd century, built or perhaps rebuilt under
TrajanMarcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from A. D. 98 until his death in A. D. 117...
, perhaps on foundations and just possibly following a design that was
PhoeniciaPhoenicia what is now modern day Lebanon, was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, extending to parts of Israel, Syria and Palestine...
n in origin. It is thought to be modeled after the Pharos
Lighthouse of AlexandriaWith a height it was identified as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Antipater of Sidon. It may have been the third tallest building after the two Great Pyramids for its entire life.-History:...
. At its base is preserved the cornerstone with the inscription
MARTI AUG.SACR C.SEVIVS LUPUS ARCHTECTUS AEMINIENSIS LVSITANVS.EX.VO, permitting the original lighthouse tower to be ascribed to the architect Gaius Sevius Lupus, from
AeminiumAeminium was the ancient name of the city of Coimbra, in Portugal. Its most ancient remains are dated from the time of the Roman domination. The Romans founded the town of Aeminium in this place, which came under the protection of nearby Conímbriga situated some 15km away to the south. The Sueves...
(present-day
CoimbraCoimbra is a city in Coimbra Municipality in Portugal. It served as the country's capital during the First Dynasty and remains home to the University of Coimbra, the oldest academic institution in the Portuguese-speaking world and one of the oldest in Europe.According to the INE's census of 2001,...
,
PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
) in the former province of
LusitaniaLusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal south of the Douro river and part of modern Spain . It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people...
, as an
ex voto dedicated to Mars. The tower has been in constant use since the 2nd century and considered to be the oldest existing lighthouse in the world. Originally it was constructed with an ascending ramp encircling its sides, for oxen to bring cartloads of wood to keep the light fueled at night.
The earliest surviving mention of the lighthouse at Brigantium is by
Paulus OrosiusPaulus Orosius was a Christian historian, theologian and disciple of Augustine of Hippo from Gallaecia. He is best known for his Historiarum Adversum Paganos Libri VII , which he wrote in response to the belief that the decline of the Roman Empire was the result of its adoption of...
in
Historiae adversum Paganos written
ca 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 HispaniaHispania was the name given by the Romans to the whole of the Iberian Peninsula . When Rome was a republic, Hispania was divided into two provinces: Hispania Citerior and Hispania Ulterior...
], where the GallaeciaGallaecia or
Callaecia was the name of a Roman province and an early Mediaeval kingdom that comprised a territory in the north-west of
Hispania...
n city of Brigantia is sited, a very tall lighthouse is erected among a few commemorative works, for looking towards BritanniaBritannia was the term used by the Romans to refer to the Roman province covering much of the island of Great Britain. The area beyond the Antonine Wall belonging to the Picts in the north was known as Caledonia. The name itself derives from Pretannia, Diodorus's rendering of the indigenous name...
.")
In 1788 the original , 3-storey tower was given a neoclassical restoration, including a new fourth storey. The restoration was undertaken by naval engineer Eustaquio Giannini during the reign of
Charles III of SpainCharles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to his death in 1788.Eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, Princess Elisabeth of Parma, he became the Duke of Parma and Piacenza under the name of Charles I ; later on in 1734 while Duke of Parma he conquered...
, and was finished in 1791. Within, the much-repaired Roman and medieval masonry may be inspected.
The Romans who conquered this region of Spain believed it to be the end of the earth, as described in "Finisterra". This region is notorious for shipwrecks, earning the name
Costa da MorteCosta da Morte is part of the Spanish Galician coast. The Costa da Morte extends from the villages of Muros and Noia to the city of A Coruña....
, the "Death Coast".
Myths
Through the millennia many mythical stories of its origin have been told. According to a myth that blends Celtic and Greco-Roman elements, the hero
HerculesHercules is the Roman name for the mythical Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena. Early Roman sources suggest that the imported Greek hero supplanted a mythic Italic shepherd called "Recaranus" or "Garanus", famous for his strength, who dedicated the Ara Maxima that became...
slew the giant tyrant
GeryonIn Greek mythology, Geryon , son of Chrysaor and Callirrhoe and grandson of Medusa, was a fearsome giant who dwelt on the island Erytheia of the mythic Hesperides in the far west of the Mediterranean. A more literal-minded later generation of Greeks associated the region with Tartessos in southern...
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 crossbonesA skull and crossbones is a symbol consisting of a human skull and two bones crossed together under the skull. Today, it is generally used as a warning of danger, usually in regard to poisonous substances.-History of the symbol:...
representing the buried head of Hercules’ slain enemy appears in the coat-of-arms of the city of Corunna.
Another legend embodied in the 11th-century compilation
Lebor Gabala ErrenLebor Gabála Érenn is the Middle Irish title of a loose collection of poems and prose narratives recounting the mythical origins and history of the Irish race from the creation of the world down to the Middle Ages...
— the "Book of Invasions"— King
BreogánBreogán, son of Brath, a mythical Celtic king from Galicia. Multiple accounts exist about him, but he is seen as the mythological father of the Galician nation...
, the founding father of the Galician Celtic nation, constructed here 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. A colossal statue of Breogán has been erected near the Tower.
Possible locations of Brigantia
Early geographical description on the location of
Brigantia point out that the town was actually located where the modern city of
BetanzosBetanzos is a municipality in Galicia, Spain, in the Province of A Coruña. Betanzos was formerly called by its ancient Latin name Brigantium....
is. This is sustained by the fact that Betanzos was referred to as "the former city of Brigancia" until the 17th century, both in literary accounts as well as in maps. It is also believed that the name
Betanzos is a phonetical evolution from
Brigantium > Breganzo > Betanzos.
The port of Betanzos was getting too small for the larger mediaeval ships and king Alphons IX of Leon 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. The place name Clunia is believed to come from the Galician Celtic name
Cluain, which means
The Meadow.
During the 19th and 20th century it was promoted the idea that the city of Brigantia was actually at the same place where the modern city of Corunna is today. This quickly rooted among the citizens of Corunna, who nowadays believe that the city of Brigantia was the former name of Corunna.
External links