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The cosmographic and geographical Arab treatise titled The Book of Curiosities of the Sciences and Marvels for the Eyes (first half of the 10th century), is preserved, since its acquisition in the year 2002, at the Oxford Bodleian Library. Inside his pages it contains a rectangular world map, which shows as the only represented building the legendary Caspian Gates, attributed to Alexander the Great. In the other confines of the inhabited lands, opposite to the north-western angle of the Iberian Peninsula, an enigmatic shape of a dilapidated tower raised the possibility that it was the figure of the ancient Roman lighthouse known as Tower of Hercules (La Coruña, Spain). Although this hypothesis finally had to be abandoned, to avoid future confusions an explanation is necessary of the eventful circumstances that surround the appearance of this figure; as well as supplied new thoughts, concerning the representations of the Tower of Hercules and other lighthouses in medieval mappae mundi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Los faros costeros italianos encarnan perfectamente el formalismo matemático. La matemática moderna, sobre todo aplicada a la geometría, es formal y aspira al significado concreto de las entidades: formas y superficies geométricas de cualquier especie. Los faros integran los aspectos funcionales de la navegación, orientación y seguridad, y al mismo tiempo evocan conceptos geométricos y simbólicos. Cada faro, por sus proporciones y detalles, constituye una ecuación geométrica elaborada. El artículo trata de la organización tipológica y formal de la arquitectura de los faros: las escaleras helicoidales, como geometría y símbolo. Se trata el tema de la forma del faro, sólido elemental de la geometría euclidiana, para afirmar cómo la arquitectura y la matemática son sistemas impregnados de símbolos abstractos que, si relacionados, adquieren significados específicos. Este estudio sobre las relaciones entre geometría y simbolismo nos lleva a tener que manejar objetos, los faros, y conceptos con la comprensión de que existe una total sinergia entre las partes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The light of the Cabo Silleiro lighthouse, set on the southern mouth of the Vigo estuary, has been in service for 150 years, If was first lit on 31 March 1862 in a fourth order lighthouse before being transfered in 1925 to a newer, first order lighthouse, while the old lighthouse continued in use up to the 80's after being equipped with a foghorn. The Silleiro lighthouses were also fitted with other supplementary services, such as radio beacon, aerial beam or wave control buoy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]