Casa Post is Tenerife’s number one property search magazine and website. Displaying hundreds of up to date properties from some of the most well established real estate agents on the islands, it’s literally a one-stop- shop for buyers, sellers, investors and developers.
Online and in the magazine there’s a wide range of property types on offer; everything from small cosy studios to huge luxury villas and country houses. In between there’s an endless range of apartments and townhouses.
Every month, Casa Post publishes various articles about the Canary Islands.
This month we look at the Pyramids of Guimar – an ongoing mystery that continues to divide opinion across the island.
Inside Tenerife - the Pyramids of Guimar
When a local newspaper claimed that strange pyramid type structures were found on the holiday island of Tenerife, Archaeologists and local authorities laughed, dismissing them as simple stone terraces – a common sight throughout the Canary Islands.
One Man thought different however…
“They were painstakingly built step-pyramids, constructed according to similar principles as those of Mexico, Peru, and ancient Mesopotamia”.“With slopes of the volcano Mt. Teide at their back and facing the Atlantic, the edifices are precisely aligned according to the sunset on the summer solstice, as are other sacred structures in different parts of the world.”Thor Heyerdahl has done extensive research on the pyramids of Tucume in Peru. After visiting the Guimar site for himself, he had no doubt.
There was no way they were random piles of stone or simple terraced steps, as some of the local authorities had claimed.
The Evidence
Unlike your standard pile of rubble, every stone was turned with its flat side out and placed together by stonemasons.
On the west facing side, there were carefully built stairways that lead up to the summit – a perfectly flat platform; as if designed for sun worship or perhaps some kind of religious ceremony.
Unlike stones found in the fields, they were not weather worn and rounded. These stones were made out of sharp fragments of lava. Some of the corner stones had even been trimmed, in order to fit perfectly into the structure.
The conclusion
A number of archaeologists from La Laguna University were called in. They performed a test excavation of the site and much to Thor Heyerdahl’s delight, found that a ceremonial platform between two of the pyramids had been built of blocks, gravel and earth and wasn’t just a random pile of rocks.
The local sceptics gave in and eventually admitted that there was some kind of ceremonial architecture there but were still unsure of how the Guanches, the original inhabitants of Tenerife, had been capable of building such a structure.
All the evidence would suggest that these fascinating structures were built by some pre-European voyagers who sailed the Atlantic waters in ancient times, and possibly built them as some kind of time measuring device.
Today the pyramids remain intact. They were once slated for destruction to make way for urban development but are now preserved. Two of the smaller pyramids have even been restored.
If you come here, come with an open mind and decide for yourself, as Dr. Heyerdahl would want. The symbol of the resort is a question mark asking visitors to make up their own minds.
Contact details:
The Pyramids of Guimar, Canary Islands, Spain
Address: Casa de Chacona
Calle Chacona
Guimar 38500
Tenerife, Canary Islands
Spain
Telephone: (34)-922-51-45-10
Fax: (34)-922-51-45-11
Website: www.fredolsen.es
Casa Post Magazine
Casa Post is a free magazine published monthly. You’ll find it throughout the Canary Islands, Tenerife in particular. It’s distributed through cafe bars, airports, petrol stations, information centres, waiting areas, and central meeting points.