The Tower of Hercules
is in fact a lighthouse, but one whose origins and physical existence date back
to Roman times. The Tower of Hercules has served as a lighthouse and landmark at
the entrance of La Coruña harbour in
north-western Spain
since the late 1st century. The Tower, was directed by architect Eustaquio
Giannini in the 18th century, who augmented the Roman core with two octagonal
forms. The Tower is built on a 57. metre high rock, and it rises a furher 55
meters, of which 34 meters correspond to the Roman masonry and 21 meters to the
restoration. Immediately, next to the base of the Tower, is a small rectangular
Roman building. The site also features a sculpture park, the Monte dos Bicos, rock carvings from the
Iron Age and a Muslim cemetery. Many legends from the Middle Ages to the 19th
century surround the Tower
of Hercules. According to myth, the hero
Hercules kill the giant Gerion after three days and three nights of continuous
battle and then buried the head of Gerion with his weapons and ordered that a
city be built on the site. The city was to be called
"Crunya". The lighthouse stands a top the buried head of Hercules'
slain enemy. Another version gives account of Hercules after hearing of the
tyrant Gerion. Hercules seeks out Gerion and the same tale of battle is told.
The Roman foundations of the building were revealed in excavations conducted in the 1990s. The Tower of Hercules is the only fully preserved Roman lighthouse that is still used for maritime signaling, and it is testimony to the elaborate system of navigation in antiquity and it provides an understanding of the Atlantic sea route in Western Europe. The Tower of Hercules was restored in the 18th century.
The tower is the oldest known still-functioning Roman lighthouse in the world. Sitting on the "Coast of Death", it remains a sentinel from days long past. The Romans who settled this region of Spain believed it to be the end of the world. The transition for life and death, in the Roman culture.
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