Lanzarote was probably named after an Italian seafarer, Lancelotto. The village of Teguise was named after Princess Teguise, who was the great-granddaughter of the aboriginal inhabitant and ruling king of the island when Lancelotto arrived. Teguise is one, if not, the oldest Spanish settlement of the Canary Islands and sits almost in the middle of the island, (east to west) yet only about ten kilometres from the coast. Every Sunday morning, Teguise hosts one of the biggest and important markets of the Canaries, where you can find lots of local crafts, ceramics, cheeses, wines and other interesting stuff, like freshly pressed cactus juice. When we were there, a local brass band played lovely music from Western movies. Unfortunately there are also lots of stalls selling cheap knock-offs and those “made-in-…” rubbish fabrics. Does not matter, because we were only interested in all the local products and experiencing the amazing and vibrating atmosphere at the market. We really enjoyed every single loud and crazy moment!

Below are photos of the entrance to the market, their lovely church, freshly pressed cactus juice and the biggest sweet potatoes we had ever seen.

The Church of our Lady of Guadalupe (Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe) dominates the town and is the tallest building in Teguise which can be seen from any vantage point. There’s a big square in front of the church, the Constitution Square (Plaza de la Constitución) with two bronze lion statues and sculpture of a dancer from the group Rancho de Pascuas.

The famous granary building, called the “cillas” (below – top left) was built in 1680 to store all the grains that the townsfolk were forced to tithe from their harvests once a year to the clergy. The building was renovated in the 1980’s.

Palm trees are plenty, and the typical white-washed facades which can be found all over the island.

“The Palacio de Marques is the oldest building on the island, dating back to 1455 when it was finally completed after a lengthy 32-year construction process.” quoted from the official website of Teguise. The government headquarters of Lanzarote for about two hundred and seventy years it’s now a wine and tapas bar (see below)

Oh, and when we thought that another storm was brewing, the thunder-clapping kind hahahaha, it was “only” this aerobatic squadron flying over…ooh, the noise!

ps: The market opens at nine in the morning and closes five hours later. We arrived just a bit more than two hours before closing time so had lots of time to see all the stalls and visit some important historical buildings. As soon as the clock strikes two, they all start packing up and people leave the town. An hour later you’d wonder if there’s any life in the village, that’s how “dead” suddenly becomes. This was our opportunity to explore a bit more, especially as one could see the architecture much better!