La Coruña (the official Galician name is, A Coruña), situated on the Atlantic Ocean, has always been a city with clos links to the sea.Its most well known symbol, the Tower of Hercules, is the oldest working lighthouse in the world, and the only surviving one built by the Romans. Another of the most remarkable monuments, the Castle of San Anton, was built on an island, but was linked to the land in the 1940s with the extension of dock.

The Old City of A Coruña has always lived face to face with the sea. It extends over a peninsula connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus, so it has two seafronts : calmer waters on one side that houses the port, and the Orzán Cove which is open ocean and where are the main beaches of the city: Riazor, Orzán and Matadero.

Another emblem of the city the Galeries de la Marina, is one of the largest glass constructions the world.

The first human settlements occurred between the third and fourth centuries BC in nearby Castro of Corunna, where you can visit archaeological remains. Under Roman rule, A Coruña became a
track and port of great importance.During the ninth and tenth centuries, the inhabitants of the island then called Faro (Lighthouse) were leaving the area due to constant attacks by the Viking fleet and settled in the area of Betanzos. In 1208 King Alfonso IX founded the city on the present site of the Old Town.