La Coruna Cruises
La Coruna, the largest city in Spain's Galicia region, is among the country's busiest ports. The remote Galicia area is tucked into the northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula, surprising visitors with its green and misty countryside that is so much unlike other parts of Spain. The name 'Galicia' is Celtic in origin, for it was the
Celts who around the 6th century BC occupied the region and constructed fortified defenses.
La Coruna was already a busy port under the Romans.They were followed by an invasion of Suevians, Visigoths and, much later in 730, the Moors. It was after Galicia was incorporated into the Kingdom of Asturias that the epic saga of the Pilgrimage to Santiago (St. James) began.
From the 15th century, overseas trade developed rapidly; in 1720, La Coruna was granted the privilege of trading with America – a right previously only held by Cadiz and Seville. This was the great era when adventurous men voyaged to the colonies and returned with vast riches.
Today, the city's significant expansion is evident in three distinct quarters: the town center located along the isthmus; the business and commercial center with wide avenues and shopping streets; and the 'Ensanche' to the south, built up with warehouses and industry. Many of the buildings in the old section feature the characteristic glazed facades that have earned La Coruna the name 'City of Crystals.' Plaza Maria Pita, the beautiful main square, is named after the local heroine who saved the town when she seized the English standard from the beacon and gave the alarm, warning her fellow townsmen of the English attack.