2nd PLACE: Lady Hester Stanhope

2nd PLACE: The tomb of sir John Moore

Lady Hester Stanhope, Queen of the desert

THE TOMB OF sir JOHN

BIOGRAPHY

CASTLE OF ST. ANTÓN

THE LEGEND

BOOK 2

BOOK 1

PICS

HESTER LUCY STANHOPE (1776 - 1839)Lady Hester Stanhope was a famous and brave adventurer, archaeologist, and traveler from England who lived in the early 1800s, when women weren't usually allowed to be so independent. After leaving England, she traveled through the Middle East, wearing men's clothes, leading a camel caravan, and even discovering an ancient city. She used new methods to dig up old treasures and became a local legend, ruling over a part of the Lebanon mountains like a queen. She was known as "Queen of the desert".

Lady Hester Stanhope is a figure associated with A Coruña due to her romantic connection to General Sir John Moore, who died in battle there and is buried in San Carlos Garden. After the battle, Lady Hester received a bloodstained glove belonging to Moore from the battlefield, which she kept for the rest of her life as a symbol of their love. A local legend says that her spirit visits the garden annually on the 16th of January, the anniversary of Moore's death, to pay tribute to him. Her spectral form appears as an elegant woman dressed in white, with her face hidden by a wide hat, moving to Moore's tomb to leave a flower before vanishing.

Stravinsky and Proust

SIR JOHN’S DEATH PLACE If you walked along Rúa Canton Grande, you will find the spot where Sir John Moore actually died after being wounded on the nearby battlefield: in the home of a local trader. There is a bank there now, Banco Popular, and on the front of the building we found this plaque.