Attractions of Palma Island

Source: ostrov-la-palma.livejournal.com

1. The island's main attraction is the Caldera de Taburiente National Park, located in the center of the island. The huge erosive crater was formed 400,000 years ago by a monstrous explosion and earthquake. 

In addition to unusually shaped rocks, the crater is covered with a dense pine forest. The crater reaches a height of 2000 m and is 28 km in circumference (8-10 km in diameter) and occupies area of 2426 m. From the bottom rises a stone spire 800 m high - Rocke de Idafe.

The caldera's funnel is crossed by deep ravines with waterfalls, that drops from more than 100 m (cascadas de la Desfondada, Hoyo Verde de colores, la Fondada and others) and streams of iron water like riachuelo Almendro Amargo, which paint the stones in a bright red-orange color. Almost all the waters flow into the beautiful gorge of Dos Aguas (Dos Aguas) at an altitude of 520 meters.

To view the Caldera de Taburiente in all its grandeur, there are several viewpoints: La cumbrecita, Las Chosas и Roque de los Muchachos. The viewpoints can be reached by conveniently marked trails and roads.

Roque de los Muchachos is the highest point (2426 m) of the island, where is located the largest and most important astrophysical observatory in the northern hemisphere.

The unique and impressive scenery of the National Park attracts thousands of tourists every year. There are hiking trails along the territory of the reserve.

There is a visitors' information center (Centro de Visitantes del Parque Nacional La Caldera) created especially for all those who want to get to know the reserve. It offers an installation in the exhibition hall, a film about the formation and characteristics of the Caldera, maps in Spanish, English or German, guidebooks and brochures.

2. One of the largest and most significant observatories of the Northern Hemisphere is located on this island.

Palma has uniquely geographical, topographical and meteorological conditions that are exceptionally favorable for stargazing. The remoteness and sparseness of the island allows scientists to observe the starry sky in the absence of artificial light. The air above the mountain is virtually motionless, which is facilitated by the prevailing winds and the unique shape of the mountain.

Most of the year, clouds that hold dust and humidity are located below the observatory. All of these factors contribute to perfect observation of distant stars and galaxies.

The Roque de los Muchachos Observatory is an astronomica observatory founded in 1985 in the municipality of Garafia, belongs to the Canary Institute of Astrophysics, which is part of the Northern European Observatory. The largest observatory belongs to the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes. It has the largest telescope in Europe, named after William Herschel. Today several international scientific organizations work here. "Telescope time" is strictly divided among professional astronomers from all over the world. Each minute is claimed by several specialists at once. Everything is controlled from a computer console, and the operators sit in warm rooms. Thanks to Palma's natural conditions and the extreme precision of the scientific instruments, the observatory at Roque de los Muchachos is a unique window to the universe.

3. The entire north of the island is covered with the laurel forests growing at an altitude of 500-1500 meters. Such forests covered the whole south of Europe in the Tertiary period. Only here you can find trees and ferns that can be considered real living fossils. The Los Tilos forest, not far from Los Sauces, has been declared a biosphere reserve by UNESCO and is an excellent example of such a forest. There are trails for hiking.

The gorges of Barranco del Agua in the north-east of the island in the municipality of Puntallana and Cubo de la Galga and the Galguen Nature Reserve in the municipalities of Barlovento and Garafia are also worth seeing. Every nature lover will appreciate these excursions.

4. Not far from Barlovento there is a small cultural park that holds many mysteries. We are talking about the archaeological area and the ethnographic center La Zarza, where you can see evidence of the existence of the Benaoares - the ancient inhabitants of La Palma.

They left petroglyphs carved on rocks in several places in the northern part of the island, including Destiny Faro, Don Pedro and Juan Adalid. These drawings consist mainly of spirals, circles and linear figures. Their significance remains unknown.

It is interesting that exactly the same drawings, called petroglyphs, are present in the Irish Newgrange and date back to the Megalithic period (Irish petroglyphs date back to 3200 BC; they are older than Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids). The Information Center has a museum dedicated to the life of the Aurites. The exhibition is complemented by a 20-minute video.

In the Belmaco Archaeological Park, in the municipality of Villa de Mazo, you can see ten caves and cave paintings of the Benoarites, residence of the last leaders of the Canton of Tigalate - Jugiro and Gareagua. It was here in the eighteenth century were discovered the first petroglyphs in the Canary Islands.

5. In La Tosca (Barlovento) and in Buracas (Garafía) you can admire the dragon trees growing here. The trunks of the oldest dragon-trees look very exotic: they are disproportionately thick, topped with a thick brush of sharp leaves.

The trunk of an adult dracaena branches intricately, forming many side shoots. Some trees produce aerial roots that cover the trunk. Sometimes there is a hollow in the trunk of an old dragon tree so large that it can hold a person. The inhabitants of the Canary Islands consider such trees sacred and hold rituals near them.

The red resin exuded by the dracena on the cut is also considered sacred. This resin was used in ancient times for embalming. Legend tells us that it is not just resin: under the bark of the dracena is real dragon's blood. Carnivorous dragons once lived here and elephants were their prey. But one day a big elephant fell and crushed a dragon. The dragon's blood soaked the ground and rose up the trunk of the tree that grew on that spot.

From the seeds of the dragon tree, the locals make beautiful jewelry.

6. A visit to San Antonio and Teneguia (Fuenacaliente) volcanoes will not leave anyone indifferent. They are an amazing contrast to the green part of the island. The last eruption of the volcano was in 1971 and near its crater you can still feel the warmth of the extinct volcano.

7. La Palma has beautiful comfortable beaches of black volcanic sand. The water is very clean, and thanks to the artificially built breakwaters on some of them, and very calm. The coast has a huge number of marine life, so in addition to swimming here are excellent conditions for diving.

The beaches are well equipped: there are playgrounds and cafes, long the beaches grow huge palm trees, under the shade of which you can relax from the hot sun. You can also discover the almost wild, but lovingly manicured beaches or have a visit to the artificial sea pools.

8. The capital of the island Santa Cruz de La Palma is a small town with many narrow streets and old buildings in neoclassical and colonial style with Portuguese or Andalusian details. It is located on a mountain slope, near the edge of the crater of la Caldereta. The importance of La Palma during the Renaissance, when its capital Santa Cruz became the third port of the Spanish Empire after Seville and Antwerp, is reflected in its architecture.

The center of the city is the small triangular Plaza de Espana (Spanish Square) with a remarkable stone fountain (1776). There is a monument to the "liberal" and priest El Salvador-Manuel Diaz Hernandez (1774-1863) on the square.

Here is the famous Iglesia Matriz de El Salvador (Church of the Redeemer) with its high bell tower, built in 1503. The main building is Renaissance in style was enlarged in later centuries. The sacristy contains beautiful examples of Gothic-style wood carvings. The mudejar-style ceiling is made of pine heartwood. 

On the other side of the square is the equally famous Ayuntamiento, the town hall of the capital, with an arcade in the Italian Renaissance style, built in 1569. The second floor is decorated with the coats of arms of Philip II of Spain, Palma and the Austrian royal house. The town hall is also famous for one peculiarity in wood trim and treatment of the ceilings, called mudejar. Inside the walls are painted "Pilgrimage" by the Palmer artist Gonzalez Mandes (1843-1909) and murals by the artist M. Cassier (1890-1960) showing the folklore of La Palma. It is first democratic town hall in Spain in 1773! Here is located a very old and valuable archive of historical documents up to 1553.


Another attraction of Santa Cruz is the fortress Castillo de Santa Catalina, which perfectly defended the city against numerous French pirates. It was built in 1554, after the defeat of the city by pirates under the legendary Francois Le Clerc in 1553, which enabled the islanders to repel the legendary pirate Francis Drake in 1585. It also used as the site of a military garrison. There were living quarters, stores and a prison in Castillo de Santa Catalina.


Casa Salazar is on one of the main streets of Santa Cruz. This incredibly beautiful and rich building was built in the 17th century by the governor of the island, Ventura Salazar.

At the end of Calle Real street you can see the Ship of Our Lady, Barco de la Virgen - Naval Museum of Santa Cruz de La Palma (Museo Naval de Santa Cruz de La Palma). The Santa Maria is a replica ship of the Saint Mary on which Christopher Columbus made his voyage to America. It was built by descendants of sailors and shipbuilders and opened in 1940 as a maritime museum.

To the north of the capital Santa Cruz, in the municipality of Velhoco, is the sanctuary of the island's patroness, Nueatra Senora de Las Nievas. The Santuario de Nuestra Senora de las Nieves, Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Snows, has an altar with Mexican silver and a terracotta statue of the Madonna. The image of Virgen de Las Nieves dates back to the 15th century. It is the oldest image of the Virgin in the Canary Islands. The iconostasis was built in the 16th century, in the Baroque style. It is gilded and many details are made in hammered silver (XVII- XVIII century). In this church is one part of the collection of Flemish sculptures and paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries that can be found in various churches on the island. They represent a very rare and valuable historical heritage.

12. Another attraction of the Canaries is the national cuisine, which is a mixture of Latin American and European cultures with indigenous heritage of  indigenous population and elements of African cuisine. Its simplicity emphasizes the quality of local products. Canary cuisine is made up of simple but calorie-dense dishes. The islanders like to eat happily and a lot, with their families and with great company.