TARGET 090812 The Tower of Hercules

The Tower of Hercules (Galician and Spanish: Torre de Hércules) is an ancient Roman lighthouse on a peninsula about 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) from the centre of A Coruña, Galicia, in north-western Spain. The name of the town that hosts the lighthouse, Corunna, is said to be derived from the Latin "columna", meaning "column". The tower itself was known, until the 20th century as the "Farum Brigantium". The first part of the name "Far" originated from the name of the lighthouse in Alexandria Egypt (325BC- 1323AD). The Egyptian lighthouse was named "Pharo". The word for lighthouse was later spelled "Faro" by the Italians and "Far" by other Europians. Since Galacia was under Roman control at the time the original structure was built the "um" was added to indicate an enclosed structure, such as a colosseum or stadium. The structure is 55 metres (180 ft) tall and overlooks the North Atlantic coast of Spain. The structure, almost 1900 years old and rehabilitated in 1791, is the oldest Roman lighthouse still used as a lighthouse.

The Tower of Hercules is a National Monument of Spain, and since June, 27 2009 the Tower of Hercules is also considered an UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is the second tallest lighthouse in Spain, after the Faro de Chipiona.

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 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 Corunna.

Another legend embodied in the 11th-century compilation Lebor Gabala Erren— the "Book of Invasions"— King Breogán, 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.

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