The Torre de Hercules, the world’s oldest active lighthouse, is in the city of A Coruna in the Spanish province of Galicia. It stands some 180 feet high and was built by the Romans early in the second century. It was erected under the period of rule of Roman Emperor Trajan, but the exact year of construction is unknown. However, the name of its architect is known. He was a Portuguese named Gaio Servio Lupo from the nearby city of Coimbra. We know this because he had his name engraved into the building’s stone.
At that time, A Coruna was a well-known Roman settlement called Brigantium. Due to its location between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, it was an important trading port. It was also a dangerous area of water, with shoals which caused countless shipwrecks. As a result, Torre de Hercules was built, and it soon warned sailors while also identifying one of the most significant ports of the entire coast. In that early time, as with all other early towers, Torre de Hercules was operated by fire lit atop the tower.
With the eventual loss of influence and power of the Roman Empire in the fifth century, the Torre de Hercules itself fell into decline. History shows Germanic Tribes invading the area, and all ship traffic ceased. The Torre De Hercules, and the very concept of a lighthouse serving a port, lost any importance to the area. When the Normans sacked the area from the ninth century on, the building was eventually converted into a fortress. In the thirteenth century, the tower was abandoned.
Sadly, over the next centuries, it even served as a quarry. Its high-quality building material was in demand for building fortifications. In the 16th Century and was used as a lookout post for dangers from the sea. It was called “Old Castle.”
Famously, in 1553, the town guards and the city council forbad any further extraction of stone or other building materials. In the early 17th century, the Torre de Hercules was again used as a lighthouse. In 1684, it was restored and its technology was kept up-to-date over the following centuries.
In the late 18th and through the 19th century, engineers fitted it with a rotating beacon and oil lamps and in 1927 electricity was installed for the light. It is officially a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is considered the oldest lighthouse still in operation worldwide.
Why Torre de Hercules? Hercules once fought his evil giant Geryon here, who terrorized the land. Hercules defeated him after a three-day battle, beheaded him, and built a lighthouse on the spot. No one wants to explore the basement of Torre de Hercules if by chance they might fine the slain body of Geryon or his head.