When you became bored on the beach of Las Canteras or possibly just too much sun burnt, maybe you could cool yourself down in an interesting historical site you can find in a walk distance from the beach. Yes, we have an important historical site even in our modern beach city!
When walking from the beach, once you passed the port market, soon you will be impressed by an unexpected stony medieval fortress of Castle La Luz surrounded by a little park with a rose garden and a coffee shop from where you can see the exterior of the monument.
The origin of the fortress dates back to 1494 when the Spanish queen Isabel asked the third governor of the island Alonso Fajardo to build a defense tower. The tower still holds his name and it was build over the original wooden fortress constructed by the conqueror Juan Rejon from 1478.
For long time it was surrounded by the oceans waters during the high tide eventhought as the city was growing later on it is now situated on a dry land and the ocean is approximately 150m far. The actual fortress shape is from the second half of the 17th century, its 4 walls are 23m long and 12m high. Inside you will find that original Fajardo tower that was only 10m high and 8m wide.
When you finish your coffee in the neighboring coffee shop and decide whether you will pay the 4€ of entrance fee to the interior of the castle, you will be allowed to cross over the fortress little bridge and see the last reconstruction that started in 1998.
Nowadays the property is a combination of the old and modern and it hosts the permanent exhibition of 22 works of Martín Chirino – a very important sculptor born on the island whose unusual statues you can find also in the streets of Las Palmas such as the the one dividing San Telmo park and Calle Mayor de Triana street. His signature is the reference to the Canary aboriginal culture and the use of forged iron.
My important advice: don´t forget your mobile and download a QR code reader before you go. The museum is so modern that most of the explanations are only available this way, but luckily there is a free wifi in all the monument.
