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
A skull and crossbones is a symbol consisting of a human skull and two long bones crossed together under or behind the skull. The design originated in the Late Middle Ages as a symbol of death and especially as a ''memento mori'' on tombstones.
...
representing the buried head of Hercules’ slain enemy appears in the coat-of-arms of the city of
A Coruña
A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...
.
Another legend embodied in the 11th-century Irish compilation —the "Book of Invasions"—King
Breogán
Breogán (also spelt Breoghan, Bregon or Breachdan) is a character in the ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'', a medieval Christian history of Ireland and the Irish (or Gaels). He is supposedly the son of Brath, and is described as an ancestor of the Gael ...
, 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.
Throughout the Middle Ages multiple naval crusading itineraries to the Holy Land mentioned the obligatory stopover at the Lighthouse. Usually, the crusader fleets would disembark there to reach the shrine of the Apostle
James the Greater
James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee, Saint James the Great, Saint James the Greater, Saint James the Elder, or Saint Jacob (Aramaic ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܙܒܕܝ, Arabic يعقوب, Hebrew בן זבדי , '' Yaʿăqōḇ'', Latin '' ...
at
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...
on foot. and helped to perpetuate the legend that the lighthouse had been built by
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
perhaps by a misreading of the ancient inscription.
Possible locations of Brigantia
Early geographical descriptions on the location of ''
Brigantia'' point out that the town could be actually located in A Coruña or in the locality of the modern town of
Betanzos
Betanzos () is a municipality in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain in the province of A Coruña. It belongs to the comarca of Betanzos. In Roman times Betanzos was called Flauvium Brigantium or ''Brigantium''. During the ...
. 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" 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
A false etymology (fake etymology, popular etymology, etymythology, pseudo-etymology, or par(a)etymology) is a popular but false belief about the origin or derivation of a specific word. It is sometimes called a folk etymology, but this is also a ...
.
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
Alfonso IX (15 August 117123 or 24 September 1230) was King of León and Galicia from the death of his father Ferdinand II in 1188 until his own death.
He took steps towards modernizing and democratizing his dominion and founded the University ...
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
Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed through the compar ...
root *klou̯ni (cf.
Old Irish
Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...
''cluain''), meaning ''meadow''.
However, the A 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
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
visited this area with "more than a hundred
trireme
A trireme( ; derived from Latin: ''trirēmis'' "with three banks of oars"; cf. Greek ''triērēs'', literally "three-rower") was an ancient vessel and a type of galley that was used by the ancient maritime civilizations of the Mediterranean S ...
s". It is demonstrated that A Coruña was an important Roman site, as graveyards and other Roman remains have been found in the city centre,
demonstrating that the site was inhabited in the Roman period, and was deserted only during the early
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
due to
Viking attacks, when its people moved inland to O Burgo (now
Culleredo
Culleredo is a municipality of northwestern Spain in the province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Culleredo is located on the outskirts of A Coruña and its population is mainly formed of commuters. It is located in the cent ...
). The proponents of A Coruña also explain the different name as a change that occurred in the Middle Ages, and point out that the lighthouse, which was called "Pharum Brigantium", was erected in A Coruña, and is at least 25 km (or a day's walk) from Betanzos.
Also in A Coruña there was the tribe of the Brigantes, in Betanzos the tribe of the Nemeti. Today almost all historians agree that Brigantia is A Coruña. Brigantia is not only A Coruña; today it is believed that Brigantia was located from A Coruña until
A Laracha
A Laracha is a municipality of northwestern Spain in the province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community
eu, autonomia erkidegoa
ca, comunitat autònoma
gl, comunidade autónoma
oc, comunautat autonòma
an, comunidat autonoma
ast, com ...
and
Carballo
Carballo is a municipality in the north western region of Spain in the province of A Coruña, in the Autonomous community of Galicia, Spain and seventeenth overall in the country. It belongs to the Comarca of Bergantiños.
The seafood company ...
in the
Bergantiños
Bergantiños is a comarca in the Galician Province of A Coruña. The overall population of this local region is 70,698 (2005).
Populated places
* Buño
* Cabana de Bergantiños
* Carballo
*Coristanco
*A Laracha
*Laxe
*Malpica de Bergantiños
*P ...
region (Brigantes > Brigantinos > Bergantiños undoing the modification of
medieval Galician
Galician-Portuguese ( gl, galego-portugués or ', pt, galego-português or ), also known as Old Portuguese or as Medieval Galician when referring to the history of each modern language, was a West Iberian Romance language spoken in the Middle ...
).
Gallery
Escudo de A Coruña.svg, The Tower of Hercules, in the coat of arms of Corunna
Maregeo coruna2.jpg, Oil tanker ''Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi (Greek language, Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish language, Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It ...
'' burning behind the Tower of Hercules in 1992
Torre de Hércules, La Coruña, España, 2015-09-25, DD 35-37 HDR.jpg, View of the tower and its surroundings.
See also
*
Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often considered on ...
*
Roman engineering
The ancient Romans were famous for their advanced engineering accomplishments. Technology for bringing running water into cities was developed in the east, but transformed by the Romans into a technology inconceivable in Greece. The architecture ...
*
Roman technology
Roman technology is the collection of antiques, skills, methods, processes, and engineering practices which supported Roman civilization and made possible the expansion of the economy and military of ancient Rome (753 BC – 476 AD).
The Roma ...
*
List of Roman sites in Spain
This is a list of existing Roman sites in Spain.
Altars
* Roman altar of Arcos de la Frontera
Archaeological sites
* Archaeological Ensemble of Acinipo
* Almoina Archaeological Centre
* Cabeza Ladrero
* Roman ruins of Calduba
* Archaeolo ...
*
List of World Heritage Sites in Spain
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites are places of importance to cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972. Cultural her ...
*
List of lighthouses in Spain
This is a list of lighthouses in Spain.
Lighthouses
By autonomous communities
* List of lighthouses in the Balearic Islands
* List of lighthouses in the Canary Islands
See also
* Lists of lighthouses and lightvessels
* List of tallest l ...
References
;Specific references:
;General references:
"Documentos para estudiar la Torre de Hércules"(in Spanish)
Tower of Herculesfrom Spain.info
(in English) from the
Universidade da Coruña
The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad".
The Universiade is referred t ...
website
Tower of Hercules Visitor Services and Interpretive Center(in English)
External links
Torre photoOfficial website*
ttp://www.galicianflag.com/county/corunna.htm#timeline Historical timeline of the Tower of Brigantia from galicianflag.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tower Of Hercules
Lighthouses completed in the 2nd century
Towers completed in the 2nd century
Lighthouses in Galicia (Spain)
Buildings and structures in the Province of A Coruña
World Heritage Sites in Spain
Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Spain
Tourist attractions in Galicia (Spain)
Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of A Coruña
History of A Coruña