Hotels in Artenara

Artenara

Artenara is the highest village of Gran Canaria, at about 1,270 metres above sea level in the west of the island's highlands, around 24 km south-west of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. With some 1,000 inhabitants it is also the island's smallest municipality by population. Much of the village is built into the soft volcanic rock, and its cave houses keep a steady, mild temperature all year round. Its best-known sight is the Santuario de la Virgen de la Cuevita, a chapel set in an ancient cave said to have been dug by the island's original inhabitants and turned into a church after the conquest. The open-air Museo Etnográfico Casas Cuevas shows how a family lived in a group of caves, each with its own use: kitchen, bedroom and workshop. Next to the church of San Matías, the Mirador Balcón de Unamuno, built in 1999, recalls the writer Miguel de Unamuno, who stayed in the village in 1910 and praised its views. From the village the views reach across the summits towards Roque Nublo and, on clear days, to Mount Teide on Tenerife. The pine forest of Tamadaba, one of the island's great natural areas, offers hiking trails with views over the Inagua natural park and the Risco de Faneque cliff. The village also has an interpretation centre for Risco Caído and the Sacred Mountains of Gran Canaria, the UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape. Artenara suits walkers, nature lovers and anyone curious about the troglodyte way of life in the Canarian mountains.