A Coruña, the lighthouse of the Atlantic
14 February, 2022A Coruña, a welcoming and hospitable city, directly overlooking the sea and open to travellers with a traveling spirit.
We are an Atlantic people, we like to share, receive, get to know and show our cultural, heritage, landscape and gastronomic treasures. And we like diversity, plurality and equal opportunities to enjoy life, travel and the people we meet along the way.
A Coruña has much to teach the traveller and much to discover, even for those of us who live here.
Situated on the northwest coast of Spain, it is an important trading port on the Atlantic Ocean. The city centre extends over a peninsula linked to the mainland by a narrow isthmus with two seafronts: the port side, towards the A Coruña estuary, and the open sea side with the main beaches, Riazor and Orzán.
Standing out above the city is our tower, our lighthouse, our symbol. Its silhouette mirrored on the ocean reflects the Atlantic character of the people of A Coruña. The Tower of Hercules is part of our heritage and, since 2009, a World Heritage Site. A truly unique monument, and also the world’s oldest working lighthouse. Built by the Romans in the 1st century CE, the original construction was lower, wider and featured an exterior ramp used to take the wood that fuelled the fire up to the top of the tower. In 1788, Eustaquio Giannini, aided by city alderman José Cornide, embarked on an ambitious plan to renovate the tower. This is the Tower that stands out against the magnificent early evening skies of A Coruña.
But A Coruña, despite being a small city that is easy to get around on foot, has much more to see. The galleries on the seafront overlooking the port are our other indisputable architectural landmarks. The typical gallery houses in the A Mariña avenue make A Coruña a unique city. The atmosphere of the terraces and the large square overlooking the nearby sea becomes cosmopolitan with the arrival of the cruise ships that dock in the heart of the city. Every year around 200,000 people disembark in A Coruña, guided by the gleam of the Tower of Hercules. Also with the longest promenade in Europe, more than 13 kilometers of sidepath to enjoy the fresh of the ocean.
Gastronomy
Moreover, in our city, traditional and avant-garde cuisine coexist, and here you will find whatever your palate demands at any given moment. Tapas, snacks, sharing, tasting, everything is possible here, you are in a city that loves the street and adores gastronomy.
Here you will find the best produce from the Atlantic as well as the best produce from the Galician fields. Take a stroll through the markets of A Coruña to see the best and freshest fish and seafood that arrive every day at the Lonja (fish market) in A Coruña. And don't miss the opportunity to take a stroll through the wine streets to experience the happy atmosphere of A Coruña, where what unites us is always gastronomy.
Thus, A Coruña has much more to see and discover. Here you will find Scientific Museums for all the family where the Aquarium Finisterrae is the highlight, showing the marine environment that surrounds us in this corner of the ocean.
You will also find an Old Town to stroll around and find unique churches and palatial houses, and from where the English Way to Santiago de Compostela starts.
As the English were the most numerous pilgrims, this route has been known as the English Way since the Middle Ages. In the 1990s it was recovered for pilgrims. The Cathedral of Santiago grants the Compostela, the certificate of the pilgrimage, to those who make it from A Coruña and complete the necessary 100km in their country of origin.
Cradle of art
Did you know that Pablo Picasso lived in A Coruña? Two centuries ago, the city welcomed and cared for a boy called Pablo Ruiz, a little boy with great qualities that years later led him to break with the parameters of contemporary art. The residence of the Ruiz Picasso family can still be visited in the heart of the city centre. His patriarch, a teacher at the School of Arts and Crafts, instilled in his family a love of painting. This is how little Picasso began to express himself through drawings and paintings. The beach, the bullring, the Tower of Hercules, the marina, his friends or the beggars in the street... any excuse was a good one to capture it on any surface.
Finally, A Coruña has two important companies that you will easily recognise, one dedicated to beer, Estrella Galicia, which makes one of the most famous beers in Spain and which is becoming more and more popular on the international market. Here you can visit the Mundo Estrella Galicia, the first museum in Spain dedicated to beer, where you can learn about the brewing process and taste some of its creations.
You will also find here the headquarters of the world's most important textile company: Inditex. In the city you will also find the most important shops of its diverse and well-known brands such as Zara, Pull&Bear, Bershka, Massimo Dutti or Zara Home. Leave some room in your suitcase for the shopping you are going to do in the city because A Coruña is the capital of the fashion in Galicia. A city of trends, designers and creatives.
So now you know, you will find all this and much more in a city that many define as a Boutique City. A city that has the Atlantic Ocean in its DNA: Dream in Atlantic.
More information:
Tel: +34 981184344
