PR-TF 04 El Bailadero - Taganana

One of 46 winepresses in the area, one of the best preserved.

A Canary Island dragon tree (Dracaena draco) stands on the edge of a cultivated terrace, next to a wall, with an old wooden aqueduct running along its base. On the other side of the house there is another magnificent specimen of dragon tree which is visible from the road. It is around 240 years old, with 16 branches.

Village that lies to the north of the island’s capital, with a rich natural, architectural and ethnographic heritage. Historically it was a farming village, and today it still subsists on the production of potatoes, wine, sweet potatoes and vegetables. The condition and upkeep of the buildings in the centre of the village is worthy of admiration.

The image of the Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre (Our Lady of Charity) which is worshipped in Azanos was introduced in 1984 by a local resident who had had a dream in which “the image of the Virgin appeared with a boat at her feet”, so he commissioned a statue from a Seville sculptor. That same year a small chapel was built in her honour in Azanos.

A public fountain built in teh 1930s that greatly improved the quality of life of the inhabitants of Taganana.

As early as 1507, documents mention the existence of a church in the fertile Taganana Valley dedicated to Nuestra Señora de las Nieves (Our Lady of the Snows). With the passing of time and the efforts of families and brotherhoods, the old chapel was extended to form a church with three naves, chapels and shrine. Inside, the Flemish triptych of the Adoration of the Kings, the Christ of Salvation and the 16th century image of the patron saint are of special interest.

The chapel of Catherine of Alexandria in Taganana dates back to the 1620s. On 4 May 1621, Juan García, a masonry worker who lived in Realejo Bajo, undertook to build it in very precise terms: “A chapel thirty feet long [...] and eighteen feet wide, and the walls must be three quarters of a rod wide”. It was built in the agreed form in the following months, although it did not have a deed of title until the mayor and the parish priest signed it together with other local residents in 1630. As a result, the building was located at one end of the main square, opposite the parish church and next to the main houses of the village. It was always a very simple building, kept in the conditions required for worship and with few additional features.