In Teguise, flat fronted white houses hide inner courtyards and patios, pretty squares play host to a variety of bars and restaurants and there are loads of beautiful historic buildings to visit.
Teguise is certainly a great place for just strolling around and soaking up the atmosphere.
Sightseeing
If you’re looking for things to do in Teguise and you don’t come on Sunday, which is Market Day, here’s three of the best:
Castillo Santa Barbara
Teguise’s defensive beacon and the oldest castle on the island, The Fortress of Santa Barbara, still stands guard over the town high up on the extinct volcano that forms Mount Guanapay.
It started life as a watchtower and was built at the end of the 15th century by the then Lord of Lanzarote, Sancho de Herrera.
As well as offering the most incredible views of the island, Santa Barbara today also houses the excellent Museum of Emigration; which details the patterns of mass exodus forced upon Lanzarote’s inhabitants over the years, by factors such as volcanic eruptions and general economic hardship.
Palacio de Marques
The Palacio de Marques is the oldest building on the island, dating back to 1455 when it was finally completed after a lengthy 32-year construction process.
For 270 years this was the HQ of the island’s government — but today it’s beautiful, plant bedecked central patio houses a German owned tapas bar and bodega.
During the more turbulent years of the 16th and 17th century the town’s inhabitants would converge upon the Palacio at the first sign of invasion, as from there they could access a tunnel which would enable them to flee, underground and uphill, to the safety of the Castillo Santa Barbara.
Palacio Spinola
Although dating from a different architectural period to the Palacio Marques, the Palacio Spinola, which lies just off the central Plaza de Constitucion still exudes an historic, colonial air.
Originally built in the 1730’s the house was only acquired by wealthy merchant family the Spinolas in 1895.
A sympathetic restoration project, overseen by the ubiquitous Cesar Manrique helped restore the building to its full glory back in the 1970’s and today it is one of Teguise’s most important monuments.