THE COUNTRY ESTATES

Because of the loss of a great amount of the most peculiar and historical real estates of the municipality, the country estate or “las haciendas”, as they are known by the people, represent certainly the best sample of the Canarian traditional architecture, almost all of them are preserved, despite of the restyling and changes of each time. That rural dwelling which stands out because of its extent, volumetric space and structures pattern, were economic unites in charge of huge land exploitations, a result of that significant Distribution made by Alonso Fernández de Lugo. The country manor was a great enterprise responsible for getting the products, which satisfied the demand of the European people all over different periods of time like, for instance, the sugar cane, the vine, the woodlouse, the banana. It also had got sugar mills, in most cases, with “trapiches” for the elaboration of run. Around this large house were raised other buildings, of an inferior architectural status, assigned to several activities: stables, wine cellars, pantries, dwellings of the people in charge of them and land agents, honey houses, and the common winepresses. The hermitage, as a part of the house or with the front towards the road, is an inseparable element of the overall pattern. The white battlemented walls with large doorways, which make the dwelling, be a pleasant setting. Nowadays, some of them are occupied, others are Summer dwellings and centres of municipal interest, though there are others which still remain closed.

We can establish two well-defined areas where the country estate has got the greater historical, social and artistic importance: