Corunna's ancient lighthouse, the Torre de Hércules, has been inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List. Built by the Romans in the 1st century, it is the oldest lighthouse still in use in the world. Legend says that it marks the spot where Hercules buried the head and weapons of the slain giant Geryon.

The lighthouse was known for being unusually tall in Roman times. It is higher still, now, and although its origins are ancient, and its Roman and Mediaeval masonry can still be seen from within, the Tower of Hercules' present appearance is neoclassical. This is because it was radically restored and made higher between 1788 and 1791.

The legendary name seems to date from the Middle Ages, and before being associated with the Roman demi-god, it was related in the popular mind with King Breogán or Breoghain, mythical founder of the Galician Celtic nation in the 2nd century BC, and colonizer of Ireland. It was then the Tower of Brigantia, the modern city of Betanzos, a little east of Corunna. The people of La Coruña, however, believe that their city stands on the site of Brigantia, and a statue of King Breogán overlooks the path up to the lighthouse.

The Celtic association with the tower is documented in the Irish 11th-century Lebor Gabála Érenn, "Book of Invasions of Ireland," according to which the tower was so high an unknown green island could be seen from the top of it, prompting the Galicians to sail and land there. There is a Galician version of the story as well, described in the 10th-century Trezenzonii Solistitionis Insula Magna, involving a monk named Trezenzonius.

The Hercules connection is attributed to scholarly Castilian King Alfonso X (el Sabio, the wise). There are academic explanations: that he wanted to reinforce Galicia's connections with the Mediterrananean (as opposed to the Atlantic), and so had his Hercules bring settlers from Galatia (Anatolia, central Turkey). Well, Galatia was Celtic, at least.

UNESCO says this about the Tower of Hercules' inscription as a World Heritage site:

"The Tower of Hercules has served as a lighthouse and landmark at the entrance of La Coruña harbour in north-western Spain since the late 1st century A.D. when the Romans built the Farum Brigantium. The Tower, built on a 57 metre high rock, rises a further 55 meters. It is divided into three progressively smaller levels, the first of which corresponds to the Roman structure of the lighthouse. Immediately adjacent to the base of the Tower, is a small rectangular Roman building. The site also features a sculpture park, the Monte dos Bicos rock carvings from the Iron Age and a Muslim cemetery. The Roman foundations of the building were revealed in excavations conducted in the 1990s. Many legends from the Middle Ages to the 19th century surround the Tower of Hercules which is unique as it is the only lighthouse of Greco-Roman antiquity to have retained a measure of structural integrity and functional continuity."

Related:
Map of World Heritage Sites in Spain and Portugal