The first mention of Corunna is in Ptolemy’s Geography, written between the first and second century A.D., where he mentions “Flavium Brigantium,” and locates it in the gulf of the Artabri. Flavium Brigantium, according to Paulus Orosius, would actually be “Pharum Brigantium,” that is to say, the Tower of Hercules. According to Orosius, who wrote towards the end of the fourth century and beginnings of the fifth, “The second angle (of Hispania) is oriented towards the north wind, where the Galaic city of Brigantia raises as watchtower of Britania its very high and dignified lighthouse worthy of mention among very few things.” This text is the first to link the city of Brigantia with a lighthouse; and so, it must almost surely refer to the Tower of Hercules and Corunna. Also, the Cosmography of Aethicus, fifth or sixth century, mentions the city of Brigantia in Galicia, in which rises a “very high lighthouse.”

As a building, the Tower of Hercules is an architectural prodigy which still remains thanks to several historical circumstances, and we must keep it for the benefi t of mankind. The interior of the Tower of Hercules still maintains an important section of the original Roman building, as we can see in the foundations of the building, which, since the excavations made in 1992 under the direction of José María Bello, can be partially seen in the subsoil of the big platform surrounding the building.

Dio Cassio, who lived in the third century, narrates the coming of Julius Caesar to Brigantia, which was then the emporium of the tin market. Located some ten meters from the Tower, facing south on the outer circular platform, protected within an annexed structure, we find a rock with the following inscription: MARTI / AVG. SACR / G. SEVIVS / LVPVS / ARCHITECTVS / AEMINIENSIS / LVSITANVS EX VO. The most widely accepted translation is: “Consecrated to Mars Augustus. Gaius Sevius Lupus, architect of Aeminium, Lusitanian, in fulfillment of a promise.” Aeminium was a Roman settlement identified as Coimbra. Cornide was the first in suspecting that the inscription was dedicated to Mars, although he interpreted the word “aeminiensis” as “afluviensis,” (“aquae flaviae” would refer to present day Chaves). For Hutter, the inscription probably contains the name of the builder of the Tower and some information about him, although its relation with the edifice is not absolutely certain. All modern historians and archaeologists agree that the construction of the Tower is of Roman origin and that the date of construction should be placed between the first and second centuries A.D.

The Roman presence in Corunna is very evident, not only due to the Tower but also due to the innumerable Roman remains that have been discovered, and continue to be discovered, on land as well as in the bottom of the ría. F. Senen, former director of the Archaeological Museum of Corunna, believes that the findings in the waters adjacent to the port are in fact better than those from the mainland. During the last restoration of the Tower, begun in 1991, excavations were carried out in the area of the platform. The results of these excavations permit us to confirm the existence of medieval and Roman remains, some of which are now part of the underground gallery where the visit to the interior of the Tower currently begins.

Written references to the Tower do not exist during several centuries, those that go from the conquest of Spain by the Suevi to the arrival of the Normans in the ninth century. With the Norman invasion the city must have been destroyed, and its inhabitants taken refuge in a new nearby settlement: “Burgo de Faro” (Lighthouse Burgh).

Disagreements over property

In 915, Ordoño II placed the city of Farum Brigantium under the dominion of the bishop of Santiago. This cession, confirmed years later by Alfonso V, does not seem to have included the Tower, which became the property of the Count of Trava and Trastamara. During the time of Archbishop Gelmírez, the Tower officially belonged to the See of Compostela. For a time, Doña Urraca seized the Tower and ceded it to Veremundo, son of the Count of Trava, but Gelmírez would later recover possession of the Tower. In 1126, King Alfonso VII gave it to Rodrigo, another son of the Count of Trava, after which it would be passed to the Church.

Alfonso IX, who had visited the original settlement of Corunna, signed a royal edict on June 1, 1208, to repopulate Corunna, granting the city special privileges. A notable event of this period is the inclusion of the Tower in the “Mapamundi” (World Map) of the Beatus of Burgo de Osma, in 1086.

This map of the world, which makes reference to very few geographical features, includes the Tower of Hercules and the Lighthouse of Alexandria, which shows the importance that our eternal Lighthouse has always held. The Codex Calixtinus, dating from 1140, also mentions Corunna; in it “Crunia” is described as “one of the largest cities of Spain.”

In 1682, the Duke de Uceda, at the time Captain General, decides to proceed with the restoration of the Tower, at the request of the consuls of Flanders, England and Holland, whose governments would be in charge of its maintenance for ten years. Two murettes (lantern turrets) were constructed at the top of the Tower, and thus for a time there where two lanterns. Some years later, due to the gradual abandonment of the Tower, the murettes began to crumble.

In 1785, Carlos III created the Royal Maritime Consulate of Galicia, entrusting it with the restoration of the Tower. The work, finalized in 1791, was directed by Eustaquio Giannini, a naval lieutenant from Badajoz. Giannini restored the three Roman floors, covering the ancient nucleus with a granite layer 60 cm wide, and adding a new octagonal section “36 rods” high, for servicing the beacon. The Tower joins the list of existing neoclassical constructions in Corunna.

Since then, and till the present time, the Tower has undergone only slight modifications. The latest restoration, which was accompanied by an archaeological study of the building’s platform, was carried out in the early nineties. The project was concluded on November 30, 1992. Then, on December 3, the accident of the oil tanker Aegean Sea took place, affecting the Tower with smoke from the great fire aboard, and thus scaffolds had to be placed to clean the facade.