195 lines
5.9 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
195 lines
5.9 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
sponsored
|
|
travel
|
|
spanish_tourist_board
|
|
canaryislands
|
|
7079735
|
|
-----
|
|
# Canary Islands - history: land of fire and fable
|
|
|
|
## The seven major islands that now form the Cararies archipelago are the
|
|
product of two very dramatic histories...
|
|
|
|
![History of the Canary Islands: an old map tell a dramatic story][1]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Image 1 of 2
|
|
|
|
History of the Canary Islands: an old map tell a dramatic story Photo: (c) The
|
|
British Library/HIP
|
|
|
|
![Canary Islands: a land of fascinating histories][2]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Image 1 of 2
|
|
|
|
Canary Islands: a land of fascinating histories
|
|
|
|
5:09PM GMT 26 Jan 2010
|
|
|
|
Two histories converge in dramatic fashion on the Canary Islands. The first is
|
|
a geological history that stretches back to the cataclysmic eruptions that
|
|
forced the first of these volcanic islands from the seabed at least 30 million
|
|
years ago. The second is a human history that in all likelihood stretches back
|
|
to the ancestors of the Berber tribes of the African mainland who settled here
|
|
more than 2,000 years ago.
|
|
|
|
The seven major islands that now form the Canaries archipelago were created by
|
|
submarine volcanic eruptions produced by the collision of tectonic plates over
|
|
many millions of years and the subsequent buckling of the seabed. The islands
|
|
that we now see above the water are, in fact, the peaks of gigantic underwater
|
|
volcanoes.
|
|
|
|
But rather than emerging all at one time, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote to the
|
|
east formed around 30-40 million years ago; Gran Canaria, La Gomera and
|
|
Tenerife 10-15 million years ago; and La Palma and El Hierro between one and
|
|
five million years ago.
|
|
|
|
But though their shared volcanic history might suggest an identical
|
|
geographical terrain, erosion of older islands such as Fuerteventura has
|
|
produced desert-like landscapes, while the younger islands of El Hierro and La
|
|
Palma have humid forests, jagged mountain ridges and lush fertile craters.
|
|
|
|
The human history of the islands is no less fascinating. Known to the both the
|
|
Ancient Greeks and the Romans, the pre-colonial inhabitants are referred to
|
|
collectively as the Guanches, although technically this was the name of the
|
|
aborigines of Tenerife only. During the Middle Ages, the Arabs, Portuguese and
|
|
Italians all visited the islands, before, in 1402, the Spanish conquest of the
|
|
islands began.
|
|
|
|
## Related Articles
|
|
|
|
* [Reaching for the stars][3]
|
|
|
|
03 Feb 2010
|
|
|
|
* [Food: a taste for the traditional][4]
|
|
|
|
26 Jan 2010
|
|
|
|
* [Activities: the great outdoors][5]
|
|
|
|
26 Jan 2010
|
|
|
|
* [Canary Islands - Paradores: Luxuriate in the past][6]
|
|
|
|
26 Jan 2010
|
|
|
|
* [Canary Islands: sun, sea and truly stunning skylines][7]
|
|
|
|
26 Jan 2010
|
|
|
|
* [Csar Manrique: an artist by nature][8]
|
|
|
|
26 Jan 2010
|
|
|
|
Due to the mountainous terrain, resistance by the Guanches on some of the
|
|
islands continued for another century until they were finally subdued. During
|
|
the following centuries, the Canaries became the springboard for the discovery
|
|
of the New World, rightly famed for being an important staging post for
|
|
Christopher Columbus's voyages of exploration.
|
|
|
|
Subsequently, the cities of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Las Palmas de Gran
|
|
Canaria became final restocking ports for the Spanish traders and missionaries
|
|
on their way to and from the New World, bringing prosperity to the islands and
|
|
the construction of beautiful colonial cities, many of which have been
|
|
preserved to this day.
|
|
|
|
[X][9] Share & bookmark
|
|
|
|
Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
|
|
|
|
Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
|
|
|
|
[What are these?][10]
|
|
|
|
* Share: [Share][9] [ ][11] [ ][12]
|
|
|
|
[Tweet][13]
|
|
|
|
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/canaryisland
|
|
s/7079735/Canary-Islands-history-land-of-fire-and-fable.html
|
|
|
|
Telegraph
|
|
|
|
## [Canary Islands][14]
|
|
|
|
* ### [Sponsored »][15]
|
|
|
|
* ### [Travel »][16]
|
|
|
|
* ### [Spanish Tourist Board »][17]
|
|
|
|
[X][9] Share & bookmark
|
|
|
|
Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
|
|
|
|
Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
|
|
|
|
[What are these?][10]
|
|
|
|
Share:
|
|
|
|
* [ ][9]
|
|
|
|
* [ ][11]
|
|
|
|
* [ ][12]
|
|
|
|
* [Tweet][13]
|
|
|
|
* [![Canary Islands holidays][18]][14]
|
|
|
|
[1]: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01567/CANARY_HI_RES_MAP__1
|
|
567876c.jpg
|
|
|
|
[2]: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01567/CANARY_HI_RES_TILE_1
|
|
567875a.jpg
|
|
|
|
[3]: /sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/canaryislands/7145716
|
|
/Reaching-for-the-stars.html
|
|
|
|
[4]: /sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/canaryislands/7079761/Canary-
|
|
Islands-food-a-taste-for-the-traditional.html
|
|
|
|
[5]: /sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/canaryislands/7079778/Canary-
|
|
Islands-activities-the-great-outdoors.html
|
|
|
|
[6]: /sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/canaryislands/7079788/Canary-
|
|
Islands-Paradores-Luxuriate-in-the-past.html
|
|
|
|
[7]: /sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/canaryislands/7079816/Canary-
|
|
Islands-sun-sea-and-truly-stunning-skylines.html
|
|
|
|
[8]: /sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/canaryislands/7079704/Cesar-
|
|
Manrique-an-artist-by-nature.html
|
|
|
|
[9]: #
|
|
|
|
[10]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/4590190/Share-this-
|
|
article-What-are-these.html
|
|
|
|
[11]: mailto:?subject=A Telegraph reader thought you would be interested in
|
|
this article&body=Depending on your email program, you may be able to click on
|
|
the link in the email. Alternatively, you may have to open a web browser, such
|
|
as Firefox or Internet Explorer, and copy the link over into the address bar.
|
|
%0A%0Ahttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/canary
|
|
islands/7079735/Canary-Islands-history-land-of-fire-and-fable.html %0A%0AFor
|
|
the best content online, visit www.telegraph.co.uk
|
|
|
|
[12]: javascript:print()
|
|
|
|
[13]: http://twitter.com/share?via=Telegraph
|
|
|
|
[14]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/can
|
|
aryislands/
|
|
|
|
[15]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/
|
|
|
|
[16]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/travel/
|
|
|
|
[17]: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/travel/spanish_tourist_board/
|
|
|
|
[18]: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01569/sponsor_canaryisla_
|
|
1569739a.jpg
|
|
|