Gáldar, capital Guanche

Under the soil of this Canarian town lies one of the most important pieces of history of the Canarian people. The one of the ancestors that inhabited these wonderful islands. This is due to the fact that Gáldar is built on the ancient Guanche city, which in its day was the capital of its civilization along with that of Telde. Thanks to the fortune of excavations that took place two centuries ago, it was possible to unmask several pieces of stone that were old houses from more than 1 millennium ago. Not only have remains of the Gáldar been found before the Spanish conquest but some of what was the origin of the Guanche people.

It should be noted that Gáldar was one of the cities that most opposed to accept the treaties offered by the Crown of Castile. However, in the end he had to accept, and his people mixed with the Spaniards who decided to stay. Many guanches were executed besides those who perished in the war, leaving some 200 who would finally accept the treaty.

Of all those excavations that were made, we came to several houses with something more inside because they kept paintings of more than a thousand years old and intact. This state of conservation was due to keeping optimal humidity conditions under the ground. The paintings are red, white and black and in different ways that may have been symbolic. The paintings would have been used to represent female fertility or, simply, for decoration, maybe they were a form of religious belief or perhaps they were ceremonial. What remains is that, the true meaning of, the symbols, is still unknown. Recently the Cueva Pintada was closed, because it was discovered that the light was discoloring, the paintings, the humidity that comes, the infiltration of water, through the rock, and, the heat of the visitors' bodies, worked, all together, and, little by little, they were destroying, of the paintings. After modernization, you can now see inside the Cueva Pintada as, the paintings are covered with a layer of glass to protect them. In the museum of the Cueva Pintada, which is now part of the whole site, you can follow, a virtual tour of the caves, and, with the intelligent use of the showcases, you will see, many of the objects that were discovered during, the excavations of, the Painted Cave.

Below I show one of the photos of the excavations.

Casco Histórico actual

The most important building is the temple of Santiago de los Caballeros, one of the most monumental buildings in the Canary Islands. This temple was built on the site of the "Casa Roma", the main temple of the Agáldar de los Canarios. Its construction meant the appearance of a computer element of space, favoring the layout of straight streets on its sides and outskirts. Architecturally, it is the beginning of neoclassicism in the Canary Islands, although it still has previous formal solutions. It is the work of artisans from Tenerife, the brothers Antonio José and Diego Nicolás Eduardo and the quarry Patricio García.

Its façade stands out, facing the Plaza de Santiago, where the Puerta Mayor, the "Santa" or Santiago and the Purísima Concepción open. This imafronte is totally of stonework, consecrating a grancanaria constant that will give good fruits in the facade of the Cathedral of the Canary Islands, San Sebastián de Agüimes and San Juan Bautista de Arucas. The front is topped by a huge pediment with a reduced arch, framed between twin towers. Externally also highlights the dome, located on the cruise. Laterally open the doors of the Sun or San Antonio Abad and the Wind or the Trinity. The presence of the main and arciprestal temple has been the authentic motive that reconverted the old prehispanic center in the center of the Hispanic Gáldar that has arrived until the present time. There is still a baptismal font with more than 500 years of history where the Guanches who managed to survive the conquest were converted to Christianity.