La Villa de Teguise

The Royal Villa of Teguise is the core of the municipality, and due to its historical legacy, it has been declared a historical-artistic architectural ensemble. Teguise is possibly the best-preserved historic center in the Canary Islands, as it has not suffered significant changes throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

Today, Teguise, especially since the municipality experienced prosperous times with the implementation of the tourism sector, fights to maintain the original profile of its streets, which have become, quite ironically, a key attraction in Lanzarote's cultural offer. A walk through 21st-century Teguise is the closest experience we can have in the Canary Islands to an anachronistic visit to our grandparents' era, as the Villa de Teguise retains the flavor of something truly ancient.

Teguise was the capital of Lanzarote from the first half of the 15th century until 1852, when the capital was moved to Arrecife. Teguise, known as the "Great Village" or Acatife, takes its name in honor of Maciot de Bethencourt's wife, the nephew of the Norman conqueror Jean de Bethencourt. Teguise was the daughter of the last indigenous king, Guadarfía.

Teguise gained great importance due to its strategic location, allowing it to observe potential pirate incursions, its use of water resources, fertile soil for agriculture, and its position at the island's center with the highest population concentration. Teguise was considered the first civil and urban settlement of Lanzarote.

The first Marquis of Lanzarote was born in the Royal Villa of Teguise around 1536. Don Agustín de Herrera y Rojas, as he was called, led the evacuation of the Royal Villa in 1586 when it was attacked by pirate Morato Arráez. While the pirates ravaged everything, the population took refuge in the Cueva de los Verdes. Don Agustín de Herrera's house is one of the oldest and most beautiful buildings in the archipelago, known for its gargoyles in an island plagued by drought. Two years after Morato Arráez's attack, Don Agustín de Herrera sought to fulfill the will of Don Sancho de Herrera y de Castilla and ordered the construction of a Franciscan monastery in his Famara garden. He delegated this work to Argote de Molina, who realized the danger of the construction in that area due to its vulnerability to attacks, and instead built the monastery of Santa Madre de Dios de Miraflores in the Villa de Teguise, which later became known as the Convent of San Francisco.

A new Berber raid destroyed the Villa again in 1618, and its population was also diminished by the eruption of the Timanfaya volcano in 1730. However, the Villa managed to rise again and build places of worship such as the Convent of Santo Domingo, the Hospital of the Holy Spirit, and later, the Hermitage of Veracruz, Hermitage of San Rafael, and Hermitage of San José.

Other notable buildings include: the Church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, founded in the first half of the 16th century, which is the main church of Lanzarote and housed the island's most valuable religious treasures; the Castle of Santa Bárbara in the Guanapay Mountain, which is documented in the work of architect Leonardo Torriani and essential for safeguarding the population; the Cilla de Diezmos y Primicias, built in the 17th century as a granary and residence for the tax collector of tithes on behalf of the clergy; the Grand Mareta of Teguise, which supplied water to the entire island; and the Manuela and Esperanza Espínola Theater, among others.