At the tip of a Galician peninsula, facing the Atlantic, stands the oldest Roman lighthouse in the world still in use. It was built around the year 100, went dark for centuries and was lit again thanks to an eighteenth-century restoration. Twelve stops between the tower and its neoclassical skin, the stone signed by an architect from Coimbra, the Celtic king who saw Ireland from here, the seafront promenade that wraps around the city, the castle that imprisoned a navigator, the gold of the hillforts, the tomb of a British general, the church of the leaning columns, María Pita's square, the city of glass, the gardens won from the sea and the giant guns of Monte de San Pedro. Approximate audio duration: 19 minutes.
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A Coruña: el faro romano que todavía se enciende cada noche
En la punta de una península gallega, frente al Atlántico, se levanta el faro romano más antiguo del mundo que sigue funcionando. Lo construyeron hacia el año 100, se quedó a oscuras durante siglos y volvió a encenderse gracias a una restauración del siglo dieciocho. Doce paradas entre la torre y su piel neoclásica, la piedra firmada por un arquitecto de Coímbra, el rey celta que vio Irlanda desde aquí, el paseo marítimo que abraza la ciudad, el castillo que fue prisión de un navegante, el oro de los castros, la tumba de un general inglés, la iglesia de las columnas inclinadas, la plaza de María Pita, la ciudad de cristal, los jardines ganados al mar y los cañones gigantes del Monte de San Pedro. Duración aproximada de audio: 19 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~19 min of audio · 9.2 km on foot (~2 h 20 min walking) · about 2 h 45 min in total
You are standing before the Tower of Hercules. Some fifty-five metres of grey stone on a bare hill, with the Atlantic breaking below. Up in the lantern, a light still comes on every night.
The Romans raised it in the late first or early second century, in the time of the emperor Trajan. They called it Farum Brigantium, the lighthouse of Brigantium. It marked the way into a treacherous coast at the far north-western edge of the Empire.
It is the oldest Roman lighthouse in the world still in use. That is why UNESCO made it a World Heritage Site in 2009.
But the full story matters. The tower d…
2
The Architect's Signature
Head down towards the base of the tower and look for a rock with Latin letters carved into it. It is one of the few times a Roman building tells you who made it.
The inscription is dedicated to Mars Augustus. And it is signed by Gaius Sevius Lupus, architect, from Aeminium in Lusitania. Aeminium is today's Coimbra, in Portugal.
Think about it: an engineer from what is now Portugal, almost two thousand years ago, left his name at the foot of a work that would outlive him by nineteen centuries. We know very little else about him.
Why Mars? The Romans dedicated their works to protecting gods. …
3
A Giant, a Hero and a Celtic King
Walk towards the sea until you reach the large stone statue gazing at the horizon. This is Breogán, a legendary king. To understand why he is here, you need to hear the legends this tower has gathered over time.
The first gave it its name. According to the chronicle commissioned by Alfonso X in the thirteenth century, Hercules came here and defeated the giant Geryon, who was tyrannising the region. He cut off his head, buried it and built a tower on top.
The city still carries that story on its coat of arms. Look at any A Coruña crest: the tower stands on a skull and two crossed bones. That …
4
A City Almost Surrounded by the Sea
You are on the seafront promenade, heading down from the tower towards the centre. On your left, rocks and foam. Behind you, the tower is still watching.
This promenade runs around almost the whole A Coruña peninsula for more than thirteen kilometres. It is one of the longest urban seafronts in Europe. Notice the red lampposts: they are one of the city's trademarks.
Picture the city's shape. A Coruña sits on a peninsula joined to the mainland by a narrow isthmus. On one side, the calm bay and the port. On the other, the beaches of Riazor and Orzán, open to the ocean.
That geography explains…
5
The Castle That Was an Island
You are facing the Castle of San Antón, a low, massive fortress jutting into the bay. Today you can walk here. For centuries you needed a boat.
The castle was built in the sixteenth century on an islet that held a hermitage dedicated to Saint Anthony. Its job was to close the harbour entrance together with other batteries along the shore.
In 1589 it had to prove itself. An English fleet under Francis Drake and John Norris attacked A Coruña, a year after the disaster of the Spanish Armada. San Antón's guns fired on the enemy ships.
Later, the castle became a prison. Its most famous inmate wa…
6
The Gold of the Hillforts
Step inside the castle. Since 1968 its walls have housed A Coruña's Archaeological and Historical Museum. The old rooms of soldiers and prisoners are now display cases.
Before the Romans, this land was full of castros: fortified villages on hilltops, with round stone houses and thatched roofs. Thousands are known in Galicia.
Look for the gold jewellery. Notice the torcs, thick rigid collars that opened at the front. They were symbols of power and prestige in hillfort culture.
One of the famous pieces is the so-called Elviña Treasure, found at the Elviña hillfort, a few kilometres from here.…
7
The English General's Tomb
Climb into the Old Town and enter the Garden of San Carlos, a small romantic garden on an old bastion. In the centre stands a granite tomb. It belongs to a British general.
His name was Sir John Moore. In the winter of 1808, during the war against Napoleon, he commanded a British army in Spain. Pursued by French troops, he retreated across the mountains of Galicia to A Coruña.
His aim was to embark his men on the fleet waiting in the bay. On 16 January 1809 the French attacked at Elviña, on the outskirts. The British held and the evacuation was completed.
Moore did not see it. A cannonball …
8
The Merchants' Church
You are facing the Collegiate Church of Santa María del Campo, in the heart of the Old Town. It is a church of dark granite, built in the thirteenth century between the Romanesque and the Gothic.
Look at the main doorway. In the tympanum above the door, the Adoration of the Magi is carved. The figures are rough and expressive, with centuries of Atlantic rain on them.
This was the church of the merchants and sailors of the medieval town. A Coruña lived from its port, and the guilds of the sea had their church here. In the fifteenth century it was raised to collegiate status.
Go in if it is o…
9
The Woman Who Defended the Wall
You are in the Plaza de María Pita, A Coruña's great arcaded square. Opposite rises the City Hall, with its domes, built in the early twentieth century. In the middle, a statue of a woman with a lance.
Let's go back to May 1589. Drake and Norris's English fleet landed and took the lower part of the city. The townspeople took refuge behind the walls of the Old Town, a few metres from here.
The English opened a breach in the wall and launched their assault. In the thick of the fighting, a local woman named María Mayor Fernández de Cámara y Pita confronted the attackers.
According to accounts …
10
The City of Glass
Head out onto the Avenida de la Marina and turn to look at the buildings. A long row of white-painted balconies enclosed in glass shines across from the port.
These are the glazed galleries, A Coruña's most famous image. They are why it is called the city of glass.
The odd thing is that this facade was originally the back of the houses. The main fronts faced the Calle Real, on the other side. This side looked onto the port, the wind and the rain.
In the nineteenth century residents began enclosing their balconies with wooden frames and glass. That way they trapped the light and warmth of th…
11
Gardens Won from the Sea
Walk on to the Méndez Núñez Gardens, the large park facing the port. Tall trees, sandy paths, shady benches. It looks as though it has always been here.
It hasn't. All this ground used to be sea. In the late nineteenth century the city filled in the shoreline to gain space, and on that new ground it planted the garden.
It is the same story you saw at San Antón. For centuries A Coruña has been advancing over the water, pushing its coastline outward.
The name honours Casto Méndez Núñez, a nineteenth-century Galician naval officer. He commanded the Spanish squadron in the Pacific and in 1866 b…
12
The Guns That Face the Tower
You are at the top of Monte de San Pedro, west of the city. From here you can see the whole peninsula: the port, the beaches, the city of glass. And at the tip, small and steady, the Tower of Hercules.
For decades this hill was a closed military zone. Look at the two enormous guns still pointing out to sea. They are 381-millimetre Vickers pieces, installed in the twentieth century to defend the entrance to the estuary.
They could hurl shells tens of kilometres. They never fired at an enemy. When the army left, the city turned the site into a park open to everyone.
Notice the contrast. The g…
How long does the "A Coruña: the Roman Lighthouse That Still Shines Every Night" audio tour take?
It has about 19 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 9.2 km walking route (~2 h 20 min on foot). Plan roughly 2 h 45 min in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "The Lighthouse That Refuses to Go Out" (coordinates 43.38585, -8.4064). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open A Coruña and pick "A Coruña: the Roman Lighthouse That Still Shines Every Night". No account required to start.
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No wifi needed · Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian
