Logbook · 9 places

What to see and do in Güímar

What to see and do in Güímar (Tenerife - Valle de Güímar, Santa Cruz de Tenerife): 9 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 4 Monuments · 1 Nature · 2 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of Güímar

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Spain › Canary Islands › Santa Cruz de Tenerife › Tenerife - Valle de Güímar › Güímar

What to see and do in Güímar

Güímar
Village
A municipality in the Valle de Güímar that was the seat of the Guanche menceyato of the same name, one of the most important on Tenerife alongside that of Taoro. After the 1496 conquest, the first urban settlement developed in the 16th century in the San Juan district, tied to a sugar mill run by the Piombino brothers. It became a municipality in 1812, received the title of villa in 1900 and was raised to city status in 1961.
Pirámides de Güímar
Curiosity
Six stepped structures of volcanic stone laid without mortar, whose origin is a matter of controversy. The Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl studied them from 1991 and argued they were solar temples of an ancient civilisation predating the conquest, linking them to a supposed network of pre-Columbian maritime contacts between America and the Mediterranean. Against this interpretation, most archaeologists hold that they are majanos: piles of stone left over from clearing fields (for growing cochineal) during the 19th century, pointing out that a 1854 property deed makes no mention of them and that the first document to cite them dates from 1881. In 1998 the Parque Etnográfico Pirámides de Güímar opened to the public, funded by the Norwegian shipowner Fred Olsen, which promotes Heyerdahl's thesis and which part of the archaeological community regards as a tourist attraction with no historical basis.
Cueva de Chinguaro
Monument
A historic site where, according to legend, the Guanches kept the image of the Virgen de Candelaria, which became a place of pilgrimage after the conquest. The accompanying hermitage collapsed in the 1970s and was restored, completing its first phase in 2007 with a consecration by the diocesan bishop.
Iglesia de San Pedro Apóstol (Güímar)
Monument
The main parish church of Güímar, originating from a 1606 hermitage, extended between 1794 and 1805. It is declared a monument.
Ermita de El Socorro (Güímar)
Monument
A 17th-century hermitage with a stone-cut façade, listed as a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in the category of monument. The Camino del Socorro pilgrimage route leading to it is likewise a protected historic route listed as a BIC.
Convento de Santo Domingo (Güímar)
Monument
A former convent founded in 1649, today the seat of the Güímar City Council.
Malpaís de Güímar
Nature
A special nature reserve formed by a fan-shaped field of lava from a historic volcano stretching down to the sea, with adapted tabaiba and cardón vegetation.
Erupción de 1705 en Güímar
Historical milestone
A volcanic eruption that devastated farmland in the municipality, one of the documented historic eruptive episodes on Tenerife.
Fiestas de San Pedro Apóstol y la Virgen del Socorro
Curiosity
The main festive cycle of Güímar in honour of its patron San Pedro Apóstol, running from late May to mid-July, and the festival of its patroness the Virgen del Socorro on 7 September.