Tower of Hercules

The Tower of Hercules is the oldest extant lighthouse known. It has an ancient Roman origin on a peninsula about 2.4 km from the centre of A Coruña, Galicia, in north-western Spain. Until the 20th century, it was known as the Farum Brigantium. The Latin word farum is derived from the Greek Φάρος, Pharos, for the Lighthouse of Alexandria. The structure stands 55 metres tall and overlooks the North Atlantic coast of Spain. It was built in the 1st century and renovated in 1791.