FEEL LIKE AN ARCHAEOLOGIST FOR ONE DAY
Visitors will be able to feel like an archaeologist for one or several days, since the ancient Canarian settlers occupied the territory of Tirajana taking advantage of the resources offered by the environment. The traces of their presence is visible in the many archaeological sites located all over the municipality. From the coastline, there are plenty archaeological sites. Traces of houses made of dry stones such as the structures still standing in the beach Punta Mujeres (Maspalomas) and which can be also observed from the top of the island, at Llanos de Pargana.
Other room structures are located in Arguineguín, Lomo Perera, Barranco de Fataga, etc. Besides these houses, there are other singular cave-dwelling settlings with their granaries, such as the amazing enclave in Rosiana.
There are different places which give us a testimony of their believes, since these were used as sanctuaries or singular and extremely beautiful places devoted to the worship. This interpretation has been given the to the set of towers located in Barranco Hondo or the set of artistic expressions called "cazoletas" (circular hollows) and their (canalillos) connecting channels in Lomo del Pajarcillo and El Campanario. The Canary Island aboriginals also used caves to bury the dead and to construct burial mounds. These gave rise to large cemeteries, such as the aboriginous cemetery in Arteara.
The pathways used by the aboriginals were the basis for the subsequent net of communications, since these established a set of itineraries which was increased and improved throughout centuries. In many cases, these were authentic popular engineering works, such as the pathway Paso de la Plata, which facilitated the communications between the north and south of the island. Some of these ways facilitate the access and the knowledge of different corners of the wide surface of this municipality.
NET OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN VILLA DE SAN BARTOLOMÉ DE TIRAJANA
1.- IN THE BASIN OF ARGUINEGUÍN
- Arguineguín. Aboriginal settlement
- La Lumbre. Aboriginal settlement
- Cueva de las Magarzas. Burial place
- La Gambuesa. Set of natural caves
- Huesa Bermeja. Cemetery Cementerio de los Canarios
- Excusabarajas. Mountain of Excusabarajas, with tubular constructions for living purposes
- Montaña de Santidad. Saints and Souls place
- Grabados de Chira. Cave station
- Llano del Corral. Traditional stockyard.
- Mesa de Soria. Funerary table-like structure.
- Morros de Santiago.Old Santiago's Chapel
- Los Canalizos de Chira. Circular hollow
- Llanos de Pargana. Aboriginal construction
- Cueva del Silo. Two-level digged cave
- Lalmogarén. Water source
- El Cementerio. Archaeological vestiges
2.- IN THE COAST OF EL SALOBRE
- Barranco de El Salobre. Natural aboriginal house-like caves
- Playa de Montaña La Arena. Archaeological funerary structures
- Barranco de El Hornillo. Funerary cave
- Las Meloneras. Aboriginal constructions
- Punta Mujeres. Settlement in Punta Mujeres. Burial mounds.
3.- IN THE BASIN OF MASPALOMAS
- Necrópolis de Maspalomas. Necropolis
- Lomo Perera. Aboriginal constructions
- Cuevas del Barranco de los Vicentes (Ravine Los Vicentes). Natural caves for housing and funerary purposes
- El Canalizo. Archaeological site.
- Casas del Maestro-El Tranquillo. Housing structures
- Morro de La Palmita. Archaeological astronomical sites
- Degollada de La Yegua. Three stone hills. Cultural settlement.
- Gitagana. Funerary and housing structures
- Arteara. Necropolis, burial mounds.
- El Lomito. Casa Honda del Lomito.
- Caserones. Housing structures
- Casa del Padrino. Housing structure
- Llanos de Manzanilla. Housing structure
- Monte León. Four structures and one embossing panel
- Mogarén Grande y Mogarén Chico y Casa del Canario. Housing structure
- El Arquillo. Ancient Canary Island settlers' house
- Morro de Las Vacas. Dry-stone structures
- Morro de La Cruz Grande. Housing constructions, tower and one burial consisting of four lateral tombstones and one top tomstone.
4.- IN AMURGA
- El Castillo. Semicircular construction, a tower and a stockyard
- Barranco Tarajalillo. Cave station with embossings.
- Hoya de Toledo. Cave station with 84 Libian-Berber characters.
- Mesa del Macho. Rocky hill with a semicircular structure
- Majadilla de Berriel y Montaña de Las Tabaibas. Natural and built caves.
- Altos del Coronadero. Cylindrical towers made of slabs.
- Los Castillejos. Towers, caves, shelters and stockyards for stockbreeding use
- Barranco de Las Palmas. Housing structure and geometrical embossing panel.
- Lomo de Pajarcillo. Archaeological vestiges
- El Talayón. Dry-stone structure and tower
- El Túmulo de Amurga. Burial mound with a central tower.
5.-IN THE BASIN OF TIRAJANA
- Lomo de las Pulgas. Highly altered and complex circular structure
- Montaña de Rosiana. Carved caves
- Casa Canaria de Tunte. Typical circular Canary Island house with cross-shaped interior
- Las Pilas de los Canarios. Carved basins and channels
For further information, refer to Guía Arqueológica de San Bartolomé de Tirajana (Archaeological Guide of San Bartolomé de Tirajana).
ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE OF HISTORICAL AND ARTISTIC SIGNIFICANCE
Architectural heritage of historical and artistic significance
1.- The Church of San Bartolomé de Tirajana.
This is one important exponent of the oldest religious popular-style buildings in Gran Canaria.
2.- Two-storey house of Antonio Yáñez, in San Bartolomé de Tirajana.
This is an important building of the 19th century style. It consists of a patio with garden on the ground floor and very valuable wooden balconies.
3.- The Cemetery of San Bartolomé de Tirajana.
It has been declared "Cultural-Interest Patrimony", due to its singularity and age. Its eclectic-style façade dates from the 19th century.
4.- House in La Montañeta.
Traditional-style house whose importance stems from main façade and the corridors to the interior patio.
5.- Rural house in Hoya Grande.
Its importance is due to its typology, already extinguished. It is a countryside house with a perimeter porch.
6.- House and Chapel of the Count Conde de la Vega Grande in Juan Grande.
The house, the patio and the chapel, whose beautiful coffered ceiling and the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, brought from Mexico in the 16th century, stand out in this construction.
7.- Count's house "Casa Condal" in San Fernando.
This old house is a well conserved example of the 19th century buildings. This stately two-storey house was used by the family of the county Condado de la Vega Grande when they made trips to Maspalomas. There is a small chapel with a private Franciscan-style saint image. San Isidro Labrado and San Fernando "El Chico" are the images kept inside
8.- Shed "Alpendre del Amo San Fernando".
This a stone construction with stoneworks and is one of the few exponents conserved from these 19th century buildings.
10.- Ermita de Fataga
This traditional-style chapel was built in the first half of the 19th century. It was declared a parish church the 24th day of April, 1924 and is devoted to San José. The building consists of a simple nave with a saddle roof, with a small annexed sacristy and gable roof. Its façade is simple and framed with two pilasters, with a great hole with round arch, made by stonework pilasters, capitals and voussoirs.
11.- Rural house in Perera.
This an example of the two-storey rural house, almost extinguished, and keeps the structural system of balcony on tree trunks and tile roof.
13.- Salt marsh Salinas de Juncalillo del Sur and Matorral.
Its main natural value is fauna, since this salt marsh is the shelter of the 33% of steppe birds nesting in the island. About 30 migratory birds rest and find their food in this area. Besides, it is very important the ethnographic value of the saltworks which, apart from being a attraction to birds, are the oldest saltworks in Gran Canaria and one the oldest in the Canary Islands. This area is classified as "Scientific Interest Area".
14.- Agricultural Engineering Elements:
Within the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, where the most important activity has been agriculture, there are plenty handcrafted agricultural engineering works. Some of them stand out due to their singurality and conservation, reason why they are protected
- Traditional Windmills.
- Traditional irrigation ditches in the ravines of Fataga and Arguineguín.
- Traditional lime and tile kilns.
- Pond House in El Tablero
- Waterwheels in Rosiana.
HAMLETS:
1.- Urban area of San Bartolomé de Tirajana.
This is the oldest population centre in the municipality. It developed between the 16th and 17th centuries. It is located on a escarpment with a remarkable landscape view and from which the whole ravine of Fataga can be observed.
2.- Urban and rural hamlet of Fataga.
Group of 18th century houses, with only one storey and stone constructions with wooden ceilings, covered by adobe and tile. There are some two-storey elements with wooden balconies formed on columns. The total group is located on the tortuous layout of the streets. Its church, located on the top area, has one nave and is coved with a gabled roof. Stoneworks in doors and windows are common elements in its buildings and houses. As San Bartolomé, this area is located on a escarpment, reason why the environment has a open landscape.
3.- Rural hamlet of Ayagaures
This is a group of rural houses, scattered throughout the valley and included in the high-value palm grove of the ravine of Ayagaures. Its buildings are usually traditional-style handcrafted one-storey houses, with no preconceived planning. This area is included in the natural park Parque Natural de Pilancones, a space protected by the Act Ley 12/94, whose protection grade is maximum.
4.- Rural hamlet of Los Sitios
This hamlet is located on both sides of the ravine Barranco de Tirajana, within a palm grove and with open view to Rosiana and Santa Lucía. Its houses are one-storey constructions made of stones and with tile roofs.
5.-Rural hamlet of Arteara.
This is a small hamlet of rural houses located in the lower part of the hillside of Barranco de Fataga and next to the main road. This area is included within a big palm grove which blocks the view from the road.
SOME CORNERS TO DISCOVER:
THE LIGHTHOUSE OF MASPALOMAS
The Lighthouse of Maspalomas is an indissoluble part of the southern landscape of Gran Canaria and is seen over all the buildings and the palm grove. It has been the centenarian witness of other times when it was the only construction in this point of Gran Canaria. Still nowadays, this magnificient engineering work planned by Juan de Lenón y Castillo is the most important historical, monumental and civil building from Telde to the South of island. It is difficult to understand Maspalomas without its lighthouse. Probably, because, since we have got pictures of this area, this building has been always present and has been the reflection that human activities can help improve the landscape, instead of alterating and destroying the environment.
There several details in the project which let us better know the history of this lighthouse. The place where it is located was considered the ideal setting, since it was near the mouth of the ravine, free of sand dunes and the subsoil permitted the foundations required to develop the work. The rectangular ground was located on a flat surface of 35 metres wide and 36.50 metres long. The tower and the house are one building developed with the proportions calculated to make a harmonious construction. That is why the house, which acts as the tower basement, has a proportioned elevation to its height, whose circumstance required a two-storey hosue.
The house was equipped to accommodate the engineer and three tower workers and their families. There are also a warehouse, a cleaning room, and a separate kitchen to prevent smoke from entering the rooms.
There are also two toilets on the ground floor and two other toilets on the top floor.
Regarding the distribution, each floor consists of three rooms, one in front of the sea and two other rooms at the sides. These spaces are connected to a patio of 10 metres x 9.50 metres. The access between the storeys is a wooden ladder placed on the western side room. The corridor surrounding the patio on the ground floor is a closed gallery with windows on the top floor, protected from the exterior air and the rains and connected to the all the rooms.
The height of the tower is, from the gradient of the ground floor -at 4.40 metres over the exterior esplanade, to the light, 56 metres which, along with two difference metres between the ground floor and the highest equinoctial tide, constitutes 58 metres of height. Regarding the stairs inside the tower to the said floor, this is helicoid and has been developed around cylindrical strut. To go from the room to the light chamber, there are helicoid iron stairs.
Since there were no communication ways in this part of the island, it was necessary to build a wharf through which the materials from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria would come, due to the impossibility to carry them by land.
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Therefore, the tower, including the stairs and the strut, are completely made of masonry. The jambs, hole filling, bases, pedestals, pilasters, cornices, landings and steps are made of masonry. All the exterior walls and the room walls are also made of masonry, as well as the shelter (future warehouse) are made plastered masonry on its visible faces and whitened. For the pavement of the patio and the exterior pavement, as well as for the shelter floor, blue floor tiles were chosen.
The basement was paved and the esplanade was covered with boulder stones. Wood was used to cover the floor. The material used was local torch, except for some cases.“ |
The construction works lasted until 1889, when the lantern was installed, with the optical device of F. Barbier & Cia, built in Paris that year. The lighthouse was firstly opened the 16th of January, 1890 and it was officially lit the 1st of February of such year.
The total budget for the works was 314,755.90 pesetas, plus 990 pesetas for the expropiation of the land, either for the construction and the rights of access to the main road. The monumental and historical values of this building led this lighthouse to be declared, for the centenary of its creation, Cultural Interest Item.
PARQUE URBANO DEL SUR (URBAN PARK)
The urban park Parque del Sur is built on a surface of 6,233 square metres. It has a building for performances next to the stands, gardens, a lake between the stands and the stages, and restrooms. The two first stands of the amphiteather, as well as the stage, are covered by canvas, what provides this area with a different look.
The building was built in 2007 and is made up of two units for wardrobes annexed by a central area in the back stage. This has also two side accesses to the stage which are two different accesses surrounded by one lake separating the stands from the stage. This is an area with a natural layout for the stands and surrounded by pathways which are part of the park, along with a flat surface where the performance building is located. The performance building and the lake, and well as other additional features are found in this surface of 6,233 square metres. Each wardrobe unit is equipped with bathrooms and dressing rooms for different purposes and according to different necessities.
The lake has a depth of 0.80 metres and is equipped with all the necessary elements for its maintenance.
The area surrounding this group of elements has gardens connecting the sides of the lake by a pavement according to the accesses behind the building. There is a restroom unit at one side of the stage with bathrooms for the visitors. There is also a rockodrome, a children playground, a café, a picnic area and two circuits surrounding the park, one for practising jogging and another circuit for bikes and roller skates.
ECUMENICAL CENTRE "TEMPLO ECUMÉNICO EL SALVADOR"
This building was designed and developed by the Architect Mr Manuel de la Peña Suárez. It was built between 1968 and 1971.
 This singular-architecture building has wonderful stained glass windows with the symbols of the temple. The structure of the nave seems a boat, symbolizing the church. The altar, in its principal nave, is a 11-ton rock representing the Christ as Saint Paul defined him in this first letter to the Corinthians. The grilles all over the temple, with broken tube of an organ, represent the broken harmony of the Church which awaits the day of the Unity, of José Abad. The iron monolith, in the vestibule, shows that the faith in Christ must be steady and deep.
The two beautiful stained glass windows were made by the artist Giraldo, representing the one at the back the image of Christ, light and centre of the world. Those placed in the catholic chapel, recall Christ's Diner, inviting Christians to take part in Christ's word and body.
The ecumenical centre "Templo Ecuménico El Salvador" is a centre where different European Christian confessions are held, attending either foreign parishioners living on Gran Canaria and those who are on holidays on the island.
WATERWHEEL OF FATAGA
The waterwheel of Fataga is located outside the hamlet of Fataga in the way to Tunte. It is known by the locals as the down waterwheel or Gurieta's waterwheel. This waterwheel was built in the late 18th century by Sebastián Cazorla, who took advante of a solid rock carved a part of the factory. The most significant detail of this building is the drain systems, since it is a subterranean and very small piece, where the wheel hardly fits.
The waterwheel was firstly an industrial complex in order to carry out the milling of crop, for which the water power was used by its machinery. This complex consists of two different and complementary elements: the cube and the house.
This is one of the best conserved waterwheels in Gran Canaria, as well as a magnficient example of rural waterwheels.
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