There´s much more to Teguise than just the weekly Sunday market. As Lanzarote´s former capital is the oldest Spanish settlement in the Canaries and home to the finest buildings and the most impressive traditional colonial architecture on the island.
Historic Teguise
Teguise – or La Villa as it is known locally – is Lanzarote´s time machine. The town is steeped in history and can lay claim to being the oldest settlement in the whole of the Canaries, dating back to 1418. When it was founded on the remains of a Guanche village called Aldea Grande by Maciot de Bethencourt – the nephew of the Norman conqueror of the island, Jean de Bethencort.
Named after de Bethencourts wife, the last Princess of the native, pre-Spanish Guanche inhabitants, Teguise was the island’s capital until 1852. Specifically selected for it’s central position, high ground and commanding views . For many centuries these strategic considerations were of paramount importance as Lanzarote was subjected to wave after wave of invasion by plundering pirates. Including frequent forays by English privateers such as Sir Francis Drake.
This on-going pillage reached a violent crescendo in 1618 when an armada of 5,000 Algerian buccaneers overran the town. A small street called La Sangre – blood in English – serves as a memorial to the violent massacre that ensued and can still be found beside Teguise’s main church, the Neustro Senora de Guadalupe, just off the central Plaza de la Constitucion.
As the Spanish fortfified and militarised the island the threat of pirate raids receded. Allowing Teguise to emerge as the main seat of political, military and financial power. Making it the place to reside for the islands great and good –such as wealthy merchants, noblemen and politicians.
Palacio de Marques
Today, echoes of this prosperous past still resonate through Teguise´s cobbled streets – which are home to some fantastic colonial architecture. Such as the oldest building on the island – The Palacio de Marques – which dates back to 1455 and said to house a secret tunnel running from the town up to the Castillo de Santa Barbara, which overlooks La Villa from Mount Guanapay.
Legend has it that this tunnel provided refuge for the citizens of Teguise during the frequent pirate raids. Today the Palacio de Marques has been converted into an atmopsheric bodega and tapas bar and by it´s German owner.
Many of the most impressive buildings in Teguise – such as the old hospital, which occupies an entire block opposite the restaurant Ikarus – and the Palacio Princessa Ico – are now private residences or office spaces. And are therefore largely hidden away from public view.
Palacio Spinola
But the house-museum at the Palacio Spinola (open daily 09.00 – 16.00, admission €3) – renovated during the 1970´s by the ubiquitous Cesar Manrique- still provides the perfect opportunity to step back in time and sample the lifestyle of an affluent nobleman in 18th century Lanzarote.
The Palacio Spinola is located in the heart of Teguise in the Plaza de la Constitucion – also known locally as the Plaza de Leones because of the two statues of lions that stand guard opposite the entrance to the Palace.
Constuction commenced in 1730, but The Palacio was not finally completed until some fifty years later. Thanks in no small part to the disruption created by the volcanic eruptions during this period. Originally known as the Inquisitors House – as it was once the HQ of the Holy Inquistion – from the middle of the 18th Century it became home to the Feo Peraza family, the best known of whom was the policitican Jose Feo Armas. But by 1895 the Palacio had passed into the hands of the wealthy Spinola family.
Just across the square from the Palacio Spinola is the impressive main town church, Neustro Senora de Guadalupe. Which was first constructed in the 1500´s and then rebuilt after a cataclysmic pirate raid in the 1680´s. And on the other side of the square is the town´s former tithe barn – La Cilla – where locals once paid their dues and taxes to Teguise´s bishop. Today, the building is home – somewhat ironically given its former function – to a bank.
A wealth of other historic buildings – such as the Convento de San Domingo (dating from 1698 and today used as an art gallery) and the Convento San Fransisco (built in 1590) – are dotted around Teguise. And behind the church of Nuestro Senora de Gaudalupe is the large square of Gran Mareta – which was once a former water deposit for the town.
Castillo Santa Barbara
Overlooking the town, on Mount Guanapay, is the Castillo Santa Barbara. Once a lookout point for spotting pirates the castle still gives fantastic views from coast to coast and is home to the fascinating Emigration Museum (open daily 10.00 to 16.00, except Sundays). Which details the migratory patterns of Lanzaroteños during the years of volcanic eruption and econonmic hardship.
