Gran Canaria - the North

The North

Agaete

Agaete is a small harbour in the north of Gran Canaria. For some reason the bars and restaurants are all painted in a Greek fashion, with blue and white.

Unfortunately the one thing that Agaete was famous for, a rock called Dedo de Dios (Finger of God) is broken. At least, the fingery-part of it. The people in Agaete hope that the wind and sea will form it again in some interesting form, but we will not stay to wait for it.

Cenobio de Valerón

Not far from here lies Cenobio de Valerón. This structure of caves is one of the most accessible of the Guanchen-places. In the rock you find a lot of shallow caves, built over each other. The Spanish who conquered Gran Canaria obviously had an obsession and figured it would be a cloister for nuns and young girls to be prepared for marriage. Nowadays the archaeologists agree that it is a storage facility for grain. Not quite the same, we think.

Arucas

Another small town in the north, not far from Las Palmas: Arucas. Besides tasting rum you should have a look at the church, made of the local volcanic blue stone, piedra azul. Nothing in this church is symmetrical, and we found it seems a lot bigger than it actually is.

Firgas

Firgas is the smallest city of Gran Canaria, but you find the mineral water from Firgas everywhere. It is also known for the Paseo de Gran Canaria, a long stairs with brightly coloured ceramic benches on the side. For every one of the 21 (!) communities on the island is a bench with typical pictures and the coat of arms.