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Torre de Hercules - Tower of Hercules Lighthouse
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By m.p. - Jun 29, 2009 - 3:07 AM
Alessio Damato/Wikipedia
Legend has it that the ‘Torre de Hércules,’ the oldest working lighthouse in the world, was built on the site where Hercules buried the head of the giant, Geryon, slaying him after three days and three nights of battle. He is said to have ordered a town to be built there, which became the Roman town of Brigantia. It later became A Coruña.
There is another legend that Breogán, the king in Celtic mythology who is said to have founded La Coruña, built a tower there and named it the ‘Torre de Breogán.’ The story goes that his son, Ith, looked out from the top of the tower and saw the distant green shores of Ireland and decided he wanted to conquer it.
A massive statue of Breogán now stands at the side of the lighthouse.
The original construction is believed to have been built in the 2nd century AD during the reign of the Emperor Trajan, on a small hill on a peninsula between the Bay of Orzán and the Gulf of Ártabro. Its architect, according to an inscription at the foot of the tower, was Gaius Sevius Lupus, a Roman engineer from Aeminium – now Coimbra in Portugal – who dedicated the tower to the Roman God of war, Mars. The earliest known written reference was between 415-417 AD by the historian, Paulus Orosius.
The lighthouse remained in use throughout the Roman period, but came to be used as a fort in the Middle Ages. Its first restoration was ordered in 1682 by the Duke of Uceda, and a new outer shell was built during the reign of Carlos IV – originally ordered by his father, Carlos III, in January 1788 - in a complete restoration carried out by the architect Eustequio Giannini. It was finished in 1791, adding a fourth storey, and giving the tower the appearance which can be seen today. The Roman structure remains enclosed within the 18th century façade, three storeys with a total height of 34 metres, making it one of the tallest buildings built by the Romans in Spain.
A later addition in 1861 was the huge granite platform which now surrounds the base of the tower.
The 58 metre tower, 105 metres above sea level, is open to the public with an entry fee of 2 €, and no fewer than 242 steps to climb up to the top. Its beacon can be seen for a distance of 23 nautical miles, with four white flashes every 20 seconds.
Part of the city’s heraldry since the 15th century, the Torre de Hércules is the symbol of La Coruña, and was a great source of inspiration for the Málaga artist, Pablo Picasso, when his family lived in the city at the end of the 19th century. He called it the ‘torre de caramelo’ and later included it in much of his work.
The Torre de Hercules, the oldest lighthouse in the world which is still in use, and which dates from the first century A.D. has been granted World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
The first writings to mention the lighthouse date from the year 415 and UNESCO has described the site of ‘exceptional universal value’.
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Spain Features : History
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