Hello lovely readers. Last Friday we decided to take a trip to Aguimes. I’d heard it was a pretty town and I wanted to see for myself, so we headed out at around lunchtime.
Our goal was to head to the historic quarter to the Parish Temple of San Sebastian, a stone building with a certain cathedral-looking style and a façade which represents one of the best examples of neo-classical Canarian architecture on the island. The temple was declared a Monument of National Historical Interest in 1981.
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, see my disclosures here
The Agüimes area in southeast Gran Canaria was one of the first areas colonised after the Spanish conquest of Gran Canaria in 1491. Founded as an church manor town by the Spanish Catholic Monarchs, it now offers a wide range of rural and nature tourism and is a growing trade centre thanks to the port of Arinaga.
As with many Canarian towns, Agüimes saw many of its early inhabitants migrate to the Americas. As the town grew better at managing its water resources, prosperity arrived and the migration slowed. From the 16th century sugar cane, tomato and cucumber plantations thrived. Amongst the cultural highlights are the San Sebastian church and surrounding cobbled streets, and the pre-Hispanic archaeological sites at Temisas and Guayadeque.
On the walk to the historic centre and church, I was struck by the beauty of the buildings. A mural on this building and a little carving of a guitar above it
This house had a beautifully painted sign on it’s gate which left us with no doubt as to what will happen should we venture onto the property unannounced!
Just around the corner, this beautiful house
And then on the other side, this crocodile fountain
and this tired-looking worker.
This was just one of many beautiful statues dotted all around Aguimes. As we turned off the main streets, we came across this camel
and a little further along, lovers sitting on a bench
The streets on the way to the church are very pretty, as are the buildings
Believe it or not, people drive down these streets – both ways. Through the next alleyway, we spot the church
and around the next corner we come to the side of the building
and then we turn left and arrive at the church plaza where there’s a little outdoor cafe and another statue of a lady playing a cello
The front of the building is very impressive
set in a lovely courtyard
flanked by these huge lamp posts
At the end of the courtyard/plaza, is this picture depicting life in those days
Opposite the front of the church is a beautiful little park dotted with laurel trees, park benches and statues
A lovely place to sit and contemplate life. Surrounding this area are many bars, cafes and restaurants
and a lovely souvenir shop filled with local artists’ work. Don’t you just love those little dogs?
and, of course, more statues
On the way back to the car, we spotted this little bar on the corner and stopped in for a drink. I just love the windows!
We sat outside and watched various construction workers come and go. It was about 3:00 pm on a Friday afternoon and they were popping in for a quick beer before heading home. We sipped our beer and wine and gazed at the laurel trees lining the street, all the while aware that the bar patrons were finding us fascinating. I’m guessing that non-locals don’t frequent there very often.
There is so much more to this area, but we ran out of time, and so we left it for another day.