For almost a century, Castile conquered the Canary Islands one by one. Tenerife was the last: its inhabitants, the Guanches, herders of North African origin who knew no metal, defeated the conquerors in a ravine in 1494 and held out until 1496. Then came slavery, epidemics and oblivion. Twelve stops between the beach where Alonso Fernández de Lugo landed, the cross that gave Santa Cruz its name, the museum's mummies, the city founded on the plain of Aguere, the conqueror's tomb, the ravine of the Slaughter, the village of Victory, the valley of the mencey Bencomo beneath Mount Teide, the church of the surrender, the cave of the Virgin of Candelaria, the nine bronze menceyes and the pyramids of Güímar that were never Guanche. Approximate audio duration: 22 minutes.
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Tenerife: los guanches y la conquista de la última isla libre de Canarias
Durante casi un siglo, Castilla fue sometiendo una a una las islas Canarias. Tenerife fue la última: sus habitantes, los guanches, pastores de origen norteafricano que no conocían el metal, derrotaron a los conquistadores en un barranco en 1494 y resistieron hasta 1496. Después vinieron la esclavitud, las epidemias y el olvido. Doce paradas entre la playa donde desembarcó Alonso Fernández de Lugo, la cruz que dio nombre a Santa Cruz, las momias del museo, la ciudad fundada sobre la llanura de Aguere, la tumba del conquistador, el barranco de la Matanza, el pueblo de la Victoria, el valle del mencey Bencomo bajo el Teide, la iglesia de la rendición, la cueva de la Virgen de Candelaria, los nueve menceyes de bronce y las pirámides de Güímar que nunca fueron guanches. Duración aproximada de audio: 22 minutos.
Tour stops
12 stops · ~22 min of audio · 77.28 km on foot (~19 h 20 min walking) · about 19 h 45 min in total
You are in the Plaza de España, facing the port of Santa Cruz. Today there are cranes, ferries and cruise ships. At the end of the fifteenth century this shore was a beach of stones and black sand that the Guanches called Añaza.
Around the beginning of May 1494, the ships of Alonso Fernández de Lugo reached this beach. According to the chronicles, he brought just over a thousand foot soldiers and a hundred-odd horsemen. He was a veteran of the conquest of Gran Canaria and had just subdued La Palma.
The Canaries had been under conquest for almost a century. Lanzarote fell in 1402 to the Norma…
2
The Cross That Named the City
You are in front of the church of Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, the oldest in Santa Cruz. Its tower can be seen from almost anywhere in the centre. The present building dates from the eighteenth century, raised over a much older chapel.
Inside is a wooden cross that tradition identifies with the one Lugo planted on the beach of Añaza when he landed. It is known as the Holy Cross of the Conquest. The city takes its name from it.
Planting a cross was a legal act as much as a religious one. For the Crown of Castile and the Pope, the conquest of the Canaries was justified by the conversion of…
3
The Guanches Before the Conquest
You are in front of the Museum of Nature and Archaeology, housed in the old Civil Hospital. Inside is the largest collection of Guanche objects in existence, including several mummies.
The Guanches were of North African origin. Their language, which survives in place names and a few words, was related to the Berber languages, and studies of ancient DNA confirm that kinship. They reached the islands at least some two thousand years ago.
What is striking is what they lacked. There were no metals on the island, so they worked with stone, bone, wood and obsidian. And they did not use boats: each…
4
Aguere, the Plain of Battle
You are in the Plaza del Adelantado in San Cristóbal de La Laguna. The straight streets, the low coloured houses and the wooden balconies look peaceful. This plain was called Aguere, and a lagoon here gave the city its name.
After the defeat you will learn about at Acentejo, Lugo returned at the end of 1494 with a new army. In November an open battle was fought on this plain of Aguere. Here horses and steel weapons gave the Castilians the advantage.
In that battle died Tinguaro, brother of Bencomo, the mencey of Taoro who led the resistance. Later chroniclers turned him into a hero, and his …
5
The Conqueror's Tomb
You are in front of La Laguna Cathedral, dedicated to Our Lady of Remedies. The neoclassical façade and the two towers date from the early twentieth century, but a church has stood here since the first years after the conquest.
Inside lie the remains of Alonso Fernández de Lugo. He died in 1525 as Adelantado of the Canaries and governor for life of Tenerife and La Palma.
Lugo divided the island among his soldiers and his partners. He gave them the best land and the water. Sugar cane and sugar mills soon made Tenerife a profitable business.
His rule had its dark side even for the Castilians.…
6
The Conquerors' Defeat
You are in La Matanza de Acentejo. Look at the slopes running down to the sea, cut by deep ravines. One of them, the Acentejo ravine, was the scene of the worst Castilian defeat in the whole conquest of the Canaries.
It was 31 May 1494. Lugo had advanced into the Taoro valley, the kingdom of Bencomo, and was returning laden with captured cattle. To get back, the column had to cross this narrow ravine.
The Guanches were waiting on the heights. First they rolled stones and logs down onto the trapped soldiers. Then they attacked hand to hand. In the ravine the horses were useless.
The Castilia…
7
Victory and the Epidemic
You are in La Victoria de Acentejo, a few kilometres from La Matanza. The two names, side by side, sum up the war: first the Castilian defeat, then the revenge.
After the battle of Aguere, Lugo advanced north again. On 25 December 1494, on these fields of Acentejo, his troops defeated the Guanches of the northern kingdoms. Hence the name of the town, Victory.
This time Lugo came better prepared. He had raised a new army, with soldiers sent by the Duke of Medina Sidonia and money from merchants. And he had Guanche allies from the southern kingdoms.
But perhaps the Guanches' deadliest enemy c…
8
Bencomo's Kingdom Beneath Mount Teide
You are at the Humboldt Viewpoint. Below opens the Orotava valley, with Puerto de la Cruz by the sea. And in the distance, if the clouds allow, rises Mount Teide, the highest peak in Spain, at more than three thousand seven hundred metres.
This valley was Taoro, the richest and most powerful menceyato on the island. Its mencey, Bencomo, led the alliance of the northern kingdoms against the Castilians. He was also behind the victory at Acentejo.
For the Guanches the volcano had its own name: Echeyde. Inside it, according to traditions recorded after the conquest, lived Guayota, an evil being.…
9
Where the War Ended
You are in front of the church of the Apostle Santiago in Realejo Alto. It is considered the first church founded in Tenerife after the conquest. The town's name comes from the real, Lugo's military camp.
Here, in 1496, the northern menceyes who were still resisting accepted surrender. Weakened by defeats, hunger and epidemic, they could no longer sustain the war. This is known as the peace of Los Realejos.
According to tradition, some of the menceyes were baptised here. That same year several of them were taken to the Spanish mainland and presented to the Catholic Monarchs as proof that the…
10
The Virgin Found by the Herders
You are in front of the cave of Achbinico, also called the cave of San Blas, on the coast of Candelaria. It is a natural cave open to the sea. One of the strangest stories of the conquest begins here.
According to tradition, towards the end of the fourteenth century, a century before Lugo arrived, two Guanche herders from the kingdom of Güímar found on a nearby beach a wooden image of a woman holding a child.
The Guanches did not know what it was. They brought it to the mencey of Güímar, who kept it and venerated it as something sacred. For decades the image was kept in caves along this coas…
11
The Nine Bronze Menceyes
You are in the square in front of the Basilica of Candelaria. With their backs to the sea, in a row, stand nine larger-than-life bronze statues. They are the nine menceyes of Tenerife at the time of the conquest, sculpted by the Canarian artist José Abad.
Look at the names on the pedestals. Bencomo of Taoro. Acaimo of Tacoronte. Tegueste of Tegueste. Pelinor of Icod. Romen of Daute. Those five northern kingdoms formed the war faction.
The other four formed the peace faction: Beneharo of Anaga. Pelicar of Adeje. Adjoña of Abona. And Añaterve of Güímar, the kingdom where, according to traditio…
12
The Pyramids That Were Not Guanche
You are in the Ethnographic Park of the Pyramids of Güímar. In front of you are stepped platforms of black volcanic stone, with stairways and sharply defined corners. They look like small pyramids.
In the 1990s the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl made them famous. He argued that they were aligned with the sun and might be a link between the pyramids of Egypt and those of Mexico. Many visitors came convinced they were Guanche.
Excavations by archaeologists from the University of La Laguna gave a different answer. Beneath the structures they found material from the modern era. The pyramids w…
How long does the "Tenerife: the Guanches and the Conquest of the Last Free Canary Island" audio tour take?
It has about 22 minutes of audio across 12 stops and a 77.28 km walking route (~19 h 20 min on foot). Plan roughly 19 h 45 min in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "The Beach of Añaza" (coordinates 28.4679, -16.2474). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Santa Cruz de Tenerife and pick "Tenerife: the Guanches and the Conquest of the Last Free Canary Island". No account required to start.
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