Gran Canaria: unique visits
Artenara, Galdar, Firgas, Arucas ...
The north coast was absent from our first stay, as was some more interior sites or villages from the island.
The fast highways allow today effortlessly, by the east coast, to reach the north from the south and to enjoy the discoveries quietly without having to return too quickly or too late to our accommodation.
In the north, it will be in particular the towns of Galdar, Arucas, Firgas, and further in the center, the villages of Artenara, Agüimes, Temisas, Roque Bentayga ...
Gran Canaria,
Artenara, the highest and most beautiful village on the island
A long and winding road happily climbs the mountain, to reach this very picturesque village, at 1250 meters above sea level.
Between two beautiful dragon trees, the small and dynamic sculpture to the glory of cyclists is caught on arrival on the plateau by two experienced climbers.
The beautiful square bordered in particular by the Church of San Matias, is swept by a little stinging wind which makes us flee the shadows.
White walls, vertical crenellated ridges of dark volcanic stone, recent bell towers (1957), it is typical of the Canarian style.
Rebuilt in 1865 in place of a Franciscan hermitage from the beginning of the 17th century, its patron saint Matias is that of the village, but also (who knows why?) That of the Canarian pines since 1997.
As in many Canarian churches, the ceiling is in a semi-cylinder, but above all is decorated with Mudejar motifs (we can recognize the persistence of the Arab-Andalusian octagonal motif) which forms the artesonado (repeated motifs in caissons).
Roque Nublo
Roque Bentayga
The square descends slowly towards a vast terrace at its end, from where one can contemplate at leisure in the silence the deep surrounding valleys.
From there, we can see in particular the Roque Bentayga in the foreground and in the distance the Roque Nublo.
A few tiny hamlets can be seen along roads, sometimes steep tracks, narrow leaking paths.
The mountainous slopes are only sparsely wooded with Canarian pines erect like Tuscan cypresses. They cover themselves with vegetation short vigorous succulents, cacti, small groves of palm trees at the bottom of protected valleys, round and thick bushes (various varieties of euphorbia, some of which are endemic ...), which leash mostly appear dry, mineral soil.
The village-balcony clings to the mountainside at the foot of a short overhanging cliff, which conceals multiple cavities natural.
The population from Europe has settled there ingeniously by creating a veritable troglodyte village, the visit of which is edifying.
But this habitat was first that of the pre-Hispanic population, the famous Guanches, whose descendants of the conquerors were sometimes inspired with originality for fight cold, humidity, disease (cholera ...).
The black volcanic rock here is soft enough to have been able to be dug at the peak, and allow other rooms to be fitted out. The prevention of diseases (cholera epidemics, etc.) required liming the parts every year. Also providing better brightness.
As in any visit to a troglodyte habitat, we see how much man has strived, with remarkable perseverance through generations, to develop his precious experiences and know-how to adapt to environment, whenever local conditions, even parsimonious ones, allowed it.
Red corn for shelling, almond trees for precious oil, short vines and heavy wines, protection with dried palm leaves, filtering mountain water through porous rock, pottery, ceramics without a tower or oven Like the Guanches, weaving looms, breeding pigs, goats and sheep, they knew how to draw their subsistence from their immediate environment.
The cheeses, precious, were reserved for sale; so that only the whey was reserved for gofio, the famous Canarian dish ancestral.
For this one, after 1492, the corn of the Americas, roasted, had gradually replaced local cereals such as rye, wheat, barley, oats and dried beans.
The meat was dried or preserved in a mixture of olive oil and pork fat, or even in salt.
We note in passing, as in Roque Nublo and elsewhere, that the translations of information from tourist sites are no longer limited to English and German ... since they are even found in French. Gran Canaria would no longer be the preserve of our Anglo-Saxon friends?
But also, the visit is free to access. What's more, without altering the authenticity, the level of research in the presentation, the explanations, the staging are quite remarkable.
Almost a paradox, ... or do we owe it to generous subsidies?
Small vans unload groups of touring tourists.
Also in a hurry by their guide, they tumble down, roam the site at a rapid pace and leave, encumbering to the extreme the volumes visited, necessarily confined.
Just below, a sort of recent square has been set up on a large circular landing, leaning against the steep slope at the top of which sits a monumental white Christ of devotion.
Behind a beautiful bare pergola made of wood and black stone, the square is bordered towards the valley by robust and imposing flowering mimosas, which, in total, exclusive silence, are replenished with their heavy and bright frothy clusters.
Gran Canaria,
to the northeast, Galdar, historic center and important pre-Hispanic site
We reach Galdar via the north highway from the east.
When you approach it, it's impossible not to notice this mountain with an almost perfectly conical shape.
It is the peak of Galdar, a sort of colossal natural tumulus, which was also a sacred mountain for the pre-Hispanic inhabitants. At foot condenses the city. It rises to 430 meters, 300 meters above the historic center.
A habitat of cubic terraced houses in the North African manner storms the slope.
The day of our visit was held the Cheese Festival (Feria del Queso), on the beautiful Plazza de Santiago, which is like an immense square of the monumental church local.
Architectural transition between baroque and neoclassicism, this one dates from the end of the 18th century (the classical period is only a big century before). It is the church "Santiago de los Caballeros".
Under the stalls sheltered by white umbrella tents, the producers offer their specialties to taste. Notice to gourmet amateurs, including one little shamefully we admit not to be !!
Others present local artisanal production.
Along the facades of this warmly colored local baroque, another kind of festivity is brewing: folk groups come to perform old tunes on a large stage, all dressed in their traditional costumes of a perfect finish.
Before their performance, they stroll with the pride of regulars, a little bit of a hitchhiker, willingly posing, mischievous women, the men with their hands on the back, wide sash which, by encircling the waist advantage overweight, in the midst of the few tourists, children playing, passing cyclists and motorcyclists.
To finally valiantly, in full voice, sing their traditional tunes, even if the audience is still sparse.
In a courtyard-patio of the old Town Hall is imprisoned the oldest dragon tree of the island (mentioned in 1718), so vast and so enclosed between its walls that you can only see the interweaving of its branches powerful, barely its foliage.
This is where the wide angle would have come in handy.
But it is not a thousand years old like that of the northwest coast of Tenerife, in Icod de los Vinos.
Then the crowd becomes denser, even if the neighboring streets remain almost deserted.
Elsewhere in a street more still peaceful, a horse tied to a streetlamp grows impatient, nervous, and scrapes the sidewalk with his hoof. A curious, almost incongruous encounter.
This town conceals, a few steps from this central square, a remarkable site, the "Cueva Pintada"; no, not the chattering bird in a cave, but the "cave painted ".
The entrance is a gable of a modern building. The interior layout before entering the archaeological site is quite remarkable.
Under a huge metal structure that covers a whole slope (5700 m² in total), this is one of the most important archaeological sites from the pre-Hispanic era on the island and the archipelago itself.
But, too time-consuming, we won't see another nearly as important neighboring site.
A walk on footbridges allows you to discover in a fun and educational way the entire site, ancestral remains, excavations still in progress and careful reconstructions presented there.
Opposite, this representation of the site gives an overview.
Below, a view of the covered volume, in its largest dimension.
For more information on the pre-Hispanic era, see the visit to Roque Bentayga.
Gran Canaria,
Firgas, cascade of ceramics (or azulejos?)
Under a very gloomy sky, even the coast that we follow by a short detour is scowling. A modern (1951) saffron chapel restores a touch of color and optimism.
Heading back east towards Las Palmas, you have to exit the motorway and climb steep roads sometimes, even if it means getting lost in going through everything small hamlets which cross masked ravines, to reach the two towns of Firgas and Arucas.
Having reached the center of the village of Firgas, above a generous fountain, the "promenade de Gran Canaria", formerly rue Royale (calle Real) built on a long and steep slope, is a burst of light and coquetry.
From the middle of the slope, a cascade in successive masonry levels bounces abundantly.
This beautiful chain of falls is splendidly bordered on the side of the church by benches richly decorated with azulejos, again surmounted by local coats of arms.
Higher up, after crossing a horizontal street, the ascent of the slope continues, and the street narrows around the land central which, this time, is decorated with large slabs of tiles illustrating as many as there are islands the Canary Islands archipelago.
On each slab framed like a painting, a set of tiles represents a landscape symbolism of the island concerned - for example for Gran Canaria, it is the panorama around the Roque Bentayga-, surmounting the relief image of the island and its coat of arms.
A short and very expressive history lesson - geo sky (barely) open.
Despite the freshness of the air (Marlène has wrapped his scarf around his neck, and I'm almost freezing), the overall effect is a kind of original splendor that the village is famous for.
But we can only see here at ground level, for lack of having dared to use a drone which would have better rendered the whole perspective.
Some may say that from here, more than 500 meters above the ocean, the panorama is magnificent, no need to look back to the north to try to see the horizon: it is blocked like that of Newfoundland in autumn.
The white lava stone-rimmed church stands proudly on one side.
The waterfall descends the slope over the entire length of its square and the square which extends it to the terrace.
Sometimes a gable, a low wall, a roof, have the rustic charm of neglected corners.
Gran Canaria,
further east, Arucas
This city, more important than Firgas, immediately imposes the sharp mass from its cathedral, on a small plateau at the foot of a steep and short slope.
But this jagged-flamboyant Spanish neo-Gothic monument, built at the beginning of the 20th century on the site of an original 16th century chapel dedicated to St John the Baptist, is made of stones of a sad and dull dusty gray color, the famous "Arucas stone" ...
Almost a reminder of the final destination of the bodies in the nearby cemetery ...
The interior is better with its powerful fluted columns, its white walls a little too heavily ribbed with dark stone.
Under the sky itself of an ash gray, you have to let your imagination soak up the colors of the buildings that descend the slope to try to catch up with this depressing impression.
