PARQUE ARQUEOLOGICO CUEVA PINTADA

The Cueva Pintada site in the old town of Gáldar was closed to the public for more than ten years; humidity and light had degraded the paintings, most of which date back to the ^13th century. Declared a "site of national interest", it was reopened on July 26, 2006.

Today,the site, discovered in 1873, boasts an elaborate scenography that makes the visit fun, with highly didactic audiovisuals, including a stereoscopic one, recounting the life of the island's first inhabitants and the beginnings of the conquest. In addition to an exhibition room featuring ceramics and artefacts (religious statuettes, tools, seals), the walkways reveal the remains of the primitive village, comprising some 50 dwellings on the site uncovered by archaeologists, with reconstructed dwellings.

The Cueva Pintada (the painted cave, carved out of volcanic tuff) is the highlight of the visit. Closely protected from humidity by glass walls, the cave features walls decorated by the natives with polychrome paintings (red, white, black) featuring geometric motifs: triangles, squares and circles not found in other caves in the archipelago, but only on pre-Hispanic ceramics. A very interesting visit. Not to be missed.