Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Torre de Hércules, Spain

another great surprise in my mailbox, this time coming from dear Bea, who decided to contribute to both my lighthouse and UNESCO collection! :)



the card shows the Tower of Hercules, which is an ancient Roman lighthouse, and a UNESCCO whs since 2009, located in the city of Coruña. It is the oldest Roman lighthouse in use nowadays and the oldest one in the world as well, built in the second century! (So I guess it did deserve to be inscribed on the UNESCO's list!)
And since I love myths, here is what is related to this lighthouse:
-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 Coruña.
Another legend says that 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 from its top. The glimpse of that distant green land lured them to sail north to Ireland.



and the card comes with a matching stamp too!! ♥ ♥ ♥   It was issued in 2009 in  a set of 6 lighthouses' stamps! The definitives from the Juan Carlos' series are something you are familiar with I guess...if im not mistaken, the blue and the greyish one were issued in 2002, while the pink one should be from 2009...I hope i got it right :)

Muchas gracias por la sorpresa querida!!!

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