Cultural heritage
San Miguel de Abona has a wide and varied cultural heritage. The remains of aboriginal culture are well represented in a large number of archaeological sites. Equally important is the cultural legacy preserved after the European conquest, which can be seen in its unique farmhouses, ethnographic groups, in rural and urban architecture and in a large number of elements of heritage interest. San Miguel currently has 4 Assets of Cultural Interest (BIC).
San Miguel it is cultural heritage
Hoya Tile Oven
One of the most outstanding infrastructures linked to the traditional uses developed in the Caserío de La Hoya is the tile oven. It was built at the end of the 19th century, testimony to the important pottery tradition that existed in this place and, in general, in the south of the island. It is in a good state of conservation thanks to the fact that it has been restored.
Cho Pancho Oven
It is located next to the traditional path that runs from the Ochoa pine forest to El Roque, next to the Cho Pancho Recreational Area. It is a set of two centuries-old traditional ovens. They were used to pass or dry fruit, especially figs, or bake bread on certain occasions.
Viña Vieja barn house
This house is one of the oldest buildings still standing in the midlands of southern Tenerife, and it already appears in a written document from the 17th century. It is a magnificent two-story building with adjoining rooms arranged around a closed patio. It responds to the canons of traditional Canarian rural architecture in this area of the island, with its hipped roofs of Arabic tile and profuse use of wood and white tosca on its walls. Outside, this ethnographic complex is completed with an oven, a cistern, a threshing floor and a set of barns dug into the subsoil, something very unique in Tenerife.
municipal library
This historic property has had numerous uses. It was the seat of the first Town Hall of San Miguel de Abona at the beginning of the 19th century, it also served as a prison, with trials being held in the Plaza de la Iglesia. Later it became a children's school and a high school academy, a private home and, since the 1980s, the Municipal Public Library.
Church of San Miguel Arcangel
It was built from a primitive hermitage, of which there is already written evidence since 1665. It was converted into a parish in 1796, responding to the demands of the residents of San Miguel who, until then, whenever they needed to bury a family member or receive the sacraments, they went to the parish church of San Pedro, in the municipality of Vilaflor, through long and tortuous roads. In this way, during the first half of the 19th century, the current temple was configured, with the main nave, the two sacristies and the tower. Although it was not inaugurated until 1874. In 1953 a new tower was added and the traditional façade was reformed.
House of Juan Bethencourt Afonso
In 1847 Don Juan Bethencourt Alfonso, medical anthropologist, ethnographer and historian, author of the work "History of the Guanche People" was born in this house, which helped to decipher the surprising world of the aborigines of Tenerife. This building is a good example of traditional construction. From the main facade, which overlooks the square, the colorful carpentry of its doors and windows stands out.
Historical Complex of San Miguel de Abona (Well of cultural interest)
The historic center of San Miguel is one of the best preserved sets of traditional urban architecture in the south of Tenerife, with an outstanding presence of buildings built between the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. It develops from the church of San Miguel Arcángel and its square, extending to the west along the old Camino Real, today Calle de La Iglesia, and some of its transversal roads, until reaching El Calvario.
The blue House
The name of the house comes from the characteristic light blue color of its façade. It is a beautiful building in the Brazilian colonial style, something very unusual in the midlands of southern Tenerife. Its owner was a Canarian settled in Brazil for a long time and in the 1920s he had the house built to live in during the seasons he spent in his hometown. The house is built on its own pond that supplied both the house and the surrounding land, which in its heyday was planted with orange trees of imported varieties. Since 1974 it has been the seat of the City Council of San Miguel de Abona.
Archaeological Zone Roque de Jama - La Centinela (Well of cultural interest)
The area between Roque de Jama, La Centinela and its surroundings constitutes the space with the greatest variety and concentration of archaeological sites in the south of the island.
Some of them stand out for their uniqueness and scientific importance. Its delimitation extends between the municipal terms of San Miguel de Abona and Arona. Particularly noteworthy in this protected area are the many cave art it houses, made up of 32 engraving stations and 6 sets of channels and bowls, in addition to other structures.
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Royal Road of San Miguel de Abona
This historical communication route had transcendental economic and social importance for the inhabitants of the region as it was the main transport route for people and goods between the inhabited enclaves in the south of the island. Its layout mostly coincides with the old southern royal road, whose origin dates back to the second half of the 16th century, linking the capital of the island with the different towns in the south as far as Adeje.
Caserío de La Hoya Ethnological Site
( Well of cultural interest )
The Caserío de La Hoya is considered one of the first population centers in the region. The oldest historical reference dates back to the beginning of the 17th century, rising on an old aboriginal settlement.
The choice of its location responds to the presence of land suitable for cultivation, the availability of water due to the existence of some sources, as well as its strategic location at a crossroads between the coast and Vilaflor. The set has interesting examples of traditional rural architecture, as well as other ethnographic assets such as a tile oven, threshing floors, ponds, fountains, cisterns, or its old cobblestone paths.
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The Calvary
This careful construction constitutes a small sample of the romantic classicism that developed in the main urban centers of the island towards the end of the 19th century. It is a small temple that is currently part of the processional itinerary of Holy Week. It has a rectangular ground plan with a three-sided roof and stands out especially for the large size of its façade in proportion to the building as a whole. On its façade you can see a pediment with a smooth tympanum crowned by a cross.
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Tamaide Fountain
From the Caserío de La Hoya, a paved path provides access to the Fuente de Tamaide, located on the right bank of the Barranco del Drago. This consists of a main tank, rough-hewn, from which a masonry tajea starts that pours into a tank intended for watering and into a sink used in the past as a laundry. There is also another large reservoir from where the water was directed downhill towards Aldea Blanca. This fountain was a basic resource for many generations of families settled there. The first written document that testifies to the presence of this fountain dates back to 1849, but almost certainly, its origin is much earlier.
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It was from Old Vine
This era of great dimensions constitutes one of the most representative vestiges that remain in the municipality of that incessant cereal activity of the past that gave sustenance to many families of San Miguel de Abona. It has a diameter of more than 20 meters and its paving is still in a good state of conservation. It is strategically located next to the Camino Real de San Miguel de Abona that connected with the nearby towns of Chiñama and Granadilla de Abona.
Archaeological Zone Camino de las Lajas
The Caserío de La Hoya is considered one of the first population centers in the region. The oldest historical reference dates back to the beginning of the 17th century, rising on an old aboriginal settlement.
The choice of its location responds to the presence of land suitable for cultivation, the availability of water due to the existence of some sources, as well as its strategic location at a crossroads between the coast and Vilaflor. The set has interesting examples of traditional rural architecture, as well as other ethnographic assets such as a tile oven, threshing floors, ponds, fountains, cisterns, or its old cobblestone paths.
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Captain's House
The name of the house comes from a descendant of the family that built it in 1814, D. Miguel Alfonso Martínez, who became the highest-ranking soldier in San Miguel de Abona. This building is a good example of the traditional rural hacienda, with units of one and two heights distributed from a closed interior patio and an outstanding presence of wood in its corridors and roofs. It also has a semi-basement with a cellar, wine press and barns. In 1978 the house suffered a devastating fire and was badly damaged. In 2005 it was restored by the City Council, becoming the current History Museum of San Miguel de Abona.
San Miguel it is cultural heritage
BIC
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Historic Site
San Miguel de Abona
