Melia Maria Pita

María Mayor Fernández de Cámara y Pita, known as María Pita, was a Galician heroine in the defense of Corunna, northern Spain, against the English Counter Armada in 1589. On the 4th of May 1589, English forces, already in control of the lower city, breached the defences of the old city. Maria Pita was assisting her husband, an army captain manning the defences, when he was killed by a crossbow bolt that struck him in the head. An English soldier with a banner, who was making his way to the highest part of the wall, was killed by Pita. She appeared on the heights of the wall herself, shouting: Quen teña honra, que me siga ("Whoever has honour, follow me!") whereupon the English incursion was driven back by the defenders.

What was once a former defence point has become A Coruña's best mirador. From Monte San Pedro (San Pedro Wood) we can see the comings and goings of boats guided by the millenary lighthouse. You will be impressed by the presence of the immense cannons. War machines that used to defend the city and that now signal to the horizon so that no one misses the best sunsets.

The Tower of Hercules is the oldest Roman lighthouse in the world and the only one that remains in service. It was most likely built in the second half of the 1st century by an architect from Coimbra named Gaius Saevius Lupus. Its light has always been a reference point for travellers. The current exterior dates from the 18th century and is the work of Eustaquio Giannini.