tranquility, nature, walking tours and beautiful views
The townlet of Firgas with its almost 7000 inhabitants is situated in the northern part of Gran Canaria in the height of approximately 500 meters above the sea level. During the prehispanic times was all its area covered by the so called Jungle of Doramas, named according to one of the last aboriginal guanche leader. The Jungle of Doramas used to cover the mayor surface of the northern part of the island. Shortly after the colonisation started the new history of the place and just as in many other places in the north of Gran Canaria the deforestation occured thanks to the plantation of sugar cane.
Often you can hear about Firgas as about the city of water. During the famous times of sugar cane existed here the water mills. One of them – the mill for gofio (kind of flour made of roasted corn) from the 16th century, you can find in the historical centre of the townlet. Gofio used to be the elementary part of the canarian diet during centuries and is loved by the locals until nowadays.
The testimony about the existence of water resources will give you also El Paseo de Gran Canaria (Promenade of Gran Canaria), where the water was used to create a beautiful 30 metres long cascade, that is actually a kind of a “water monument” and homage to this life-giving liquid. The sparkling water of Firgas you can find practically in every supermarket, kiosk or coffee shop all around the island. The promenade is decorated by beautiful tiled benches and by emblems of all the important cities and villages in Gran Canaria.
Paseo de Gran Canaria (Promenade of Gran Canaria) changes in its upper part in Paseo de Canarias (Canarian Promenade). Here you can admire the reliefs, emblems and basic charactiristics of all the 7 Canary Islands (Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, La Palma and El Hierro)
Another important buildings of the historical centre are the church of San Roque from the year 1845, built on the same place where before used to stay the original chappel of San Juan Ortega from 1502, built for the patron and protector of Firgas. In the same square of San Roque you can find also the building of the local townhall, built in the neocanarian style in the 40ties of the 20th century.
Close to Firgas you can also find the remainings of formerly famous hotel with prestigious spa. The centre of Firgas and its surroundings abound in beautiful views of nature and the ocean and it´s situated in amazing canarian countryside where you can enjoy variety of walking tours, for example to the walley of Azuaje, ond others that you can find in a free guide from the local tourist centre.