CANARIAN CAVES

Your Canarian reporter has recently returned from an assignment in Gran Canaria. There we visited an area of caves. These had been caused by gas trapped in molten rock which, when cooled, left holes on the solid lava. About seven hundred years ago these caves were occupied by people known as Guanches, who had come over from northern Africa. Some of the caves are still in use today. The cave area was swarming with visitors, some even eating a meal in a cave restaurant!

Most importantly for us, we happened upon a church within the cave complex. It was open and some flower arrangers were just clearing up: they had been finishing off some displays for Mother’s Day, which occurs in May here. Not only was the church hewn out of the rock but some of the fittings as well: pulpit, altar and font. It was very dim inside and difficult to take photos.

Smaller holes above the houses were used as grain stores, cleverly sealed to keep out hungry insects. In the nearby Information Centre a mummy was on display. It was thought this had probably survived due to conditions within the caves. It was a man, aged about fifty, who had obviously broken his leg badly at some time. (Probably caused by falling from the sheer rock face: this was quite a common occurrence and we could see why!)