Torre de Hércules

Torre de Hércules.

Hercules' Tower.

It was built by the Romans as a navigation beacon in the IInd century A.D. according to the inscription at the base of the tower and what the documental references on the city of Brigantium (old name of A Coruña) reveal, the existence of a lighthouse of the Trajano era. The tower possibly lost its maritime use during the Middle Ages to be converted into a fortification. In the XVIIth century, the Duke of Uceda - 1682 - entrusted its architectural restoration to the architect Amaro Antune. He built a wooden staircase that crossed the vaults up to the upper part, and two small towers to support the beacons.

In the reign of Carlos IV, a complete reconstruction was undertaken. The neoclassical work, directed by Eustaquio Giannini, was completed in 1791. Before the reform, the tower was a prismatic body with a square base. Its exterior had a stone wall with two doors in the lower part and asymmetrical windows that reached the top floor, and a spiral etching that also traveled to the top. The old Roman structure is conserved in its interior, but with wooden stairs from the restoration of the building, harmonizing with the upper frames of the doors and windows.

Dpto. de Composición.
Universidade da Coruña.