Bars, cafes and restaurants. . Music. Concert halls, instruments..
Baby and children (clothes and accessories). Sports (clothes and shoes). Domestic appliances. Printing. Miscellaneous. Computers, sound & vision. Fotography. Technology.. Jeweller’s, watches, gifts... Home. Fashion. Perfumes, cosmetics, toiletries.... Shoes.
Sustainable products.
Gyms. Yoga. Pilates. Hairdressers. Beauty shops, relaxation centres. Massages. Tatoo.
Dry cleaner’s, laundries. Architecture, engineering. Machinery. Elevators. Furniture, interior design, decoration, lighting. Professionals. Service. Reforms, painters, locksmiths....
Optician’s, hearing centres, dental clinics.... Pharmacy / Herbalist´s shop. Physiotherapy. Orthopedics. Others....
Music and dances classes.... Schools. Others.
Stationeries, bookstores. Video Club. Museums, Arts. exhibitions, craft shops (classes). Travel.
Lawyers. Agency. Accounting services. Insurance..
Motorcycle - Bikes. Licenses, driving schools. Car garages, repairs. Rent a car. Car dealers.
Animals. Florist’s and gardening centres. .
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A. Montealto neighbourhood.
B. The tower of Hércules.
- Construction and history
- Position and purpose
- Myths
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A. Montealto neighbourhood.
Montealto is, probably, the most representative neighbourhood in A Coruña, with the strongest personality. It is situated in the north part of the city where there is also the Tower of Hercules. Spelled Monte Alto or Montealto, it shelters 21.000 inhabitants; most of them working class people (that nowadays constitute the service sector) or returned emigrants who mainly came back frm Latin American, Switzerland or Germany.
Its origin dates back to the Middle Ages, a time in which the urban centre was very dichotomized between Cidade Vella (old quarter), an area for most of the well-off population, and Pescadería, a humbler location. At this time, certain agricultural activity started being carried out on the peninsula where the Tower of Hercules stands, and so, the first residents established in the area too. Consequently, As Atochas became the linking point with Pescadería.
But, in order to understand Montealto s current structure we have to advance up to the 20th century. It was in the 50s and 60s when a socio-economic development of the zone took place. The agricultural and fishing sectors established in the area began to sell their surpluses what coincided with a great increase of the city s population. This originated a high percentage of arrivals and a parallel enormous amount of building and chaotic planning. The neglect and the speculative policies transformed the neighbourhood into a deconstructed mixture of ancient houses and new buildings of great size. This situation was made worse by the lack of drainage networks and a noticeable shortage of public services that were socially aggravated by the appearance of drug dealing.
The condition of inattention lasted up to the 90s, when Montealto was object to major policies of investment that definitively solved the most perceptible problems. The elimination of shanty towns, the normalization of public services and the construction of big museums, such as the House of Man or the Aquarium Finisterrae, as well as the establishment of important hotels or sports clubs, shortly revalued the quality of life and the price of the building land. Frm this point, people with a bigger purchasing power begin to establish in this part of the municipality.
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B. A The Tower of Hércules
The tower of Hercules (Galician and Spanish: Torre de Hércules) is an ancient Roman lighthouse on a peninsula about 2.4 kilometers (1.5 mi) frm the centre of A Coruña, Galicia. Until the 20th century, the tower itself was known as the "Farum Brigantium". The Latin word farum is derived frm the Greek pharos for the Lighthouse of Alexandria. The structure is 55 metres (180 ft) tall. The structure, almost 1900 years old and rehabilitated in 1791, is the oldest Roman lighthouse in use today. The Tower of Hercules is a National Monument of Spain, and since June 27, 2009, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Construction and history
The tower is known to have existed by the 2nd century, built or perhaps rebuilt under Trajan, possibly on foundations following a design that was Phoenician in origin. It is thought to be modeled after the Lighthouse of Alexandria. At its base is preserved the cornerstone with the inscription MARTI AUG.SACR C.SEVIVS LUPUS ARCHTECTUS AEMINIENSIS LVSITANVS.EX.VO, permitting the original lighthouse tower to be ascribed to the architect Gaius Sevius Lupus, frm Aeminium (present-day Coimbra, Portugal) in the former province of Lusitania, as an offering dedicated to Mars. The tower has been in constant use since the 2nd century and is considered to be the oldest existing lighthouse in the world. The earliest known reference to the lighthouse at Brigantium is by Paulus Orosius in Historiae adversum. Paganos written around 415-417:"Secundus angulus circium intendit, ubi Brigantia Gallaeciae civitas sita altissimum farum et inter pauca memorandi operis ad speculam Britanniae erigit" ("At the second angle of the circuit, where the Gallaecian city of Brigantia is sited, a very tall lighthouse is erected among a few commemorative works, for looking towards Britannia.")
In 1788, the original 34 metres (112 ft), 3-storey tower was given a neoclassical restoration, including a new 21 metres (69 ft) fourth storey. The restoration was undertaken by naval engineer Eustaquio Giannini during the reign of Charles III of Spain, and was finished in 1791. Within, the much-repaired Roman and medieval masonry may be inspected.The Romans who conquered this region believed it to be, in a figurative sense, the end of the earth, as described in "Finisterra". This region is notorious for shipwrecks, earning the name "Costa da Morte", "Coast of Death".
Position and purpose.
The position of the lighthouse is not understood since it strongly favours an approach frm the northwest. It does not provide a guide to safe harbour to vessels approaching either up the West coast of the Iberian peninsula, nor along the Rias of the north coast. This would imply that the lighthouse was built to satisfy the needs of regular traffic coming in frm the Atlantic, perhaps taking a Westerly route frm the Cap Gris Nez area to avoid the Bay of Biscay or direct frm Ireland or South West England.
The position of the lighthouse is sufficiently far frm Cape Finisterre to indicate that it was not built as a marker for the end of the known earth.
Myths.
Through the millennia many mythical stories of its origin have been told. According to a myth that blends Celtic and Greco-Roman elements, the hero Hercules slew the giant tyrant Geryon after three days and three nights of continuous battle. Hercules then—in a Celtic gesture— buried the head of Geryon with his weapons and ordered that a city be built on the site. The lighthouse atop a skull and crossbones representing the buried head of Hercules slain enemy appears in the coat-of-arms of the city of Corunna.
Another legend embodied in the 11th-century Irish compilation Lebor Gabala Erren— the "Book of Invasions"— King Breogán, the founding father of the Galician Celtic nation, constructed here a massive tower of such a grand height that his sons could see a distant green shore frm its top. The glimpse of that distant green land lured them to sail north to Ireland. According to the legend, these Breogán s descendants who stayed in Ireland and their followers are the Celtic ancestors of the current Irish people. A colossal statue of Breogán has been erected near the Tower.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Hercules
More information: http://www.torredeherculesacoruna.com
Domus Museum (esp)
