The Tower of Hercules

The Romans built it in the first century, the eighteenth century wrapped it in a neoclassical stone skin, and it has been guiding ships ever since — which makes it a UNESCO site and the only Roman lighthouse still doing its job. It stands fifty-five metres tall on a headland with nothing else on it, so from most angles the frame is tower, grass, rock and sky.

The ground around it is a free public park with a sculpture trail and a coastal path that loops the whole headland. The best angles are from the north-west, where the path drops towards the sea and the tower rises above bare granite, and from the lawn to the south, where the full height reads against open sky.

It faces the open Atlantic, so the last hour of daylight puts warm light directly on the stone and gives long shadows across the grass. Wind is constant here — it is the reason the lighthouse exists — so light fabric and loose hair will move in every frame, which usually helps.

Climbing the tower needs a ticket and has limited opening hours, but nothing outside does. It is a twenty-minute walk or a short drive from the city centre, and the headland is exposed: there is no shelter if a squall comes through, and squalls come through often.