Not long after we left the rock formations of Rofera, we saw this imposing building sitting on an extinct volcano. You simply cannot miss it. We did not think that it was a tourist attraction as we did not have any information about it, but meandering through the busy market in the historical town of Teguise, you look up, and there it is. We decided that it was worth a visit for after when the market closed. We wanted to walk all the way up, but the heavy and dark clouds were threatening to burst, again, and besides who wants to still exert themselves after eating some delicious ice-cream. We went up by car. Good choice when the weather is not so good, and bad choice because parking space was precarious and non-existant due to so many visitors. We were very lucky though. Just as the right front wheel of the car started dangling over the “cliff” a car right in front of us moved out and we quickly slipped into the parking space. Whew! The passenger could breathe again and there would be no need for a helicopter to lift the car out of the crater.

The Castillo de Santa Bárbara (Saint Barbara Castle) was built as a fortress to ward off danger especially when pirates kept on attacking the island. It also served as a refuge for the locals during hostile invasions. As mentioned before, it sits on the rim of a crater in an extinct volcano, the Mt. Guanapay. It is really worth a visit, especially for the views.

The entrance is via a draw-bridge and not free of charge. We only had an hour before closing time so we whoosh-whooshed through the stone hallways, getting lost too, but we managed to find the exit to the top…

One could argue if it is worth spending a few euros each per person to enter the castle as there is not much to see inside other than a small pirate museum that would interest children more. Oh, okay, so maybe some adults too, but the only way to get up to the top to enjoy the vast views is to pay an entrance fee to the museum.

After they closed up, we decided to walk around the crater. It was bigger than we expected so we panicked…well, one of us did, because…what if they close the road and we were not able to get out. Hmmm…Anyway, we climbed, we trotted, we ran, we got wet. Yep, it started drizzling. When we were about halfway through, they boomed on the megaphone…don’t know what, but we took it that it was time to leave. No problem, we made it to the car, almost on all fours, but we made it. In retrospect it would have been better to walk around the castle and the crater instead of going inside. The views were just as amazing.