Touring East to South - Telde
Our first stop on this route from east to south is Telde, the second-largest town of the island, located just 13 km (approx. 8 miles) south from Las Palmas.
This historical town, which was one of the two pre-Hispanic kingdoms – Gáldar was the other one - boasts an attractive old town, declared national monument in 1981. The historical core is formed by the attractive Plaza de San Juan square, which is shaded by big, old trees and surrounded by pretty colonial-style houses, painted in green and white, with elaborately carved balconies.
Dominating this square, you will find the large Basilica de San Juan Bautista, highlights of which are a splendid Flemish altarpiece showing six scenes out of the life of the Virgin and a statue of Christ made from corncobs by Mexican Indians – a figure, which despite its height of 1,85 m only weighs 7,5 kg because of the unusual material it is made of.
The street Calle Inés Cenida links the Plaza de San Juan with another historic part of the town, the picturesque district of San Francisco, grouping around the Iglesia de San Francisco, of which it holds its name. Here, the narrow streets are paved with oval basalt pebble stones and you can still see the old dark glazed street signs, which in other places were replaced by new old-Canary ornament signs.
The street San Fernando, named after Fernando and Juan Léon y Castillo – the famous brothers, who transformed the Las Palmas’ harbour and who were born in Telde – houses the Casa-Museo Léon y Castillo dedicated to their lives and activities as engineers and diplomat.
As the archaeological sites spread around the town are not in a very good condition, we recommend you to visit the interesting site of Cuatro Puertas with relics of pre-Hispanic times in the south of Telde halfway on the route to Ingénio. Situated on a hill, which the Guanche considered holy, the Cuatro Puertas consists of a main chamber with four huge entrances, which used to be home to Telde rulers, but it could also have been a sacrificial site. On the sea-facing side there are another three caves, which were probably used by the Guanches to bury their dead.
Telde also boasts the widest coastal strip on the east side of the island with many beaches presenting different conditions – some sandy, some pebbled – lined up one after another. In this area you will find Jinámar, Bocabarranco, El Hombre, Las Cuevas, Melenara, Las Clavellinas, Las Salinetas, Silva, Agua Dulce, Tufia, Ojos de Garza and Gando… just to name some of them.
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