Dugouts of the Guanches on Gran Canary - "Cenobio de Valeron"

The pre hispanic natives of the Canaric Islands left behind interesting proofs, e. g. the unique dugouts "Cenobio de Valeron". These antique buildings are located in the north of Gran Canary near the municipality of Santa Maria de Guia on the Montaña del Gallego.

The many honeycombed caves in the soft tuff emerged by removing volcanic rock in the area of a cleft of 30 metres width and 25 height. The Guanches used wooden and lithic tools for that.

Nowadays the main use of the caves isn´t only seen in a living complex, but also in covering the sustenance with corn. Furthermore the complex "Cenobio de Valeron" is considered as an important gathering place of the old Canaric ruling families. There are even indications of a judgement place.

These descriptions cut across the naming "Cenobio", meaning monastery. Before the scientific dealing with the caves, when the function was still unknown, the locals thought, that the girls used to live in the caves in quasi-monastic circumstances untill they got married. This characterised the naming.
The archelogical research of the "Cenobio de Valeron" showed, that the about 300 caves are proofs from the Guanches.
Not only function and amount of the caves corroborated this, but also the system of the protecting rocks and to connection of differnet levels through galeries, stairs and paths.

If possible, try to explore the cave apart from the flow of tourists because this is when the magic of the ancient settlement will carry you back thousands of years.