Things to do in Gran Canaria, Canary Islands: The Best Specialty Museums

Cueva Pintada, after which the site was named, was discovered in the mid 19th century and is part of a group of artificial caves excavated in the volcanic rock.. Its geometrical motifs make it the most unique representation of the Pre-Hispanic wall paintings, an exceptional testimony of the artistic and symbolic expression of the people of the Canary Islands. Excavations made here since 1987 until today have confirmed the fact that Cueva Pintada used to be part of a village with over fifty houses and artificial caves dating back from the 6th to the 16th centuries.The remains of the indigenous village of Cueva Pintada can be admired from a walkway surrounding those structures preserved, which allows visitors to look at the detail of the houses and indigenous caves.

The Tomas Morales Museum-House is located in the house where poet Tomas Morales (1884-1921) was born. Bought by the Gran Canaria Island Council to the poet’s heirs in 1966, it was inaugurated as museum-house on 25th October, 1976, in order to pay tribute to one of the illustrious sons of Gran Canaria. Consisting of a two story building of the beginning of 19th Century, it is one of the most representative examples of Canary traditional architecture still preserved in the town of Moya. Visitors can tour through all the rooms where poet Tomas Morales lived and spent his childhood and youth, which also include a series of personal items, original furniture and belongings, as well as abundant original documentation - manuscripts, gallery proofs, personal and family documents, pictures, books …

This is the house where writer and dramatist Benito Perez Galdos (1843-1920) was born. He is regarded as the most important Spanish writer after Cervantes, as well as the main representative of the literary Realism in Spain, like Balzac, Zola and Flaubert in France, Fontane in Germany and Dickens in the United Kingdom. The House - Museum features furniture, works of art, ornaments, etc. that show both one of the places where the novelist spent his daily life and the atmosphere of a typical 19 th-century house in the Canary Islands.

Maipés Archaeological Park is located in the village of Agaete in the north west of Gran Canaria. Maipés is a volcanic lava plain in which a burial ground used by the ancient inhabitants of the island is preserved. There are almost 700 tombs, some of which were constructed over 1.300 years ago.

Enclavado en unas antiguas casas cuevas, habitadas desde tiempos de los antiguos canarios. Fueron adquiridas en 1962 por Don Santiago Aranda, quien las rehabilitó manteniendo las características de una vivienda típica canaria. Tras su adquisición por el Ayuntamiento de Artenara están destinadas a museo de etnografía doméstica. Su interior está dotado de mobiliario de gran tipismo. En sus aposentos se hallan camas de hierro, con cobertores de colchas y traperas de artesanía local, cajas de cedro y tea, sillas y taburetes de líneas austeras, así como otros detalles de carácter etnográfico propios de las viviendas rústicas del lugar. Los oficios más representativos de Artenara también están aquí mostrados.

The centre has exhibitional resources that allow visitors to learn every aspects of the La Fortaleza archaeological site. LaThe exhibition room offers the best of both the traditional museography and the latest technological resources. It also features hyper-realistic sceneries that present everything included in the site in one single space. The inner courtyard is the space destined for temporary exhibitions and workshops./p> In the audiovisual room a documentary that recreates the daily life of ancient inhabitants of La Fortaleza settlement is permanently shown. On the panoramic terrace visitors will learn more about the natural surroundings of the site and will be also able to visit the recreation of an aboriginal dwelling. In addition, the centre has a small shop where objects related to the archaeological site and the indigenous past of Gran Canaria can be bought. Besides the story of this magnificent archaeological site, the workshops, guided tours, temporary exhibitions and different events related to archaeology, history and culture make this the ideal place for the entertaining the whole family.

From the Museum we make guided visits to the Aboriginal site of Cuatro Puertas, the largest archaeological park in Gran Canaria. After the visit to the place (declared of cultural interest in 1972), we show the constellations and the relations that the deposit has with the stars. Get to know the customs of the old canaries in the site of Cuatro Puertas, in a guided and didactic way.