Guía de Isora

A town with soul and horizon

Description

This village is the capital of the municipality and is located in the midlands, at an altitude of around 580 metres. It stands in a natural setting and is home to a historic complex that was declared a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC) in 2009 due to the preservation of its rich architectural heritage.

As proof of this, visitors will find numerous representative buildings, mostly from the 19th and 20th centuries, featuring popular and rural domestic architecture, which paint the town centre in bright colours.

For lovers of religious architecture, the church of Nuestra Señora de La Luz is of great historical, artistic and cultural value. The temple houses numerous works of religious heritage, including altarpieces, sculptures, paintings and numerous pieces of gold and silverwork, as well as part of an 18th-century embroidered mantle, which is one of the oldest fabrics in Tenerife. Of course, you can also see the image of the patron saint of Guía de Isora, Nuestra Señora de la Luz, and the co-patron saint, Cristo de la Dulce Muerte, in the church.

During the tour of this historic site, we can lose ourselves in the narrow alleys and rediscover elements such as water spouts and washing places, which form part of the ethnographic heritage and which, until a few decades ago, were in daily and collective use. These will transport us back in time and give us a closer insight into the cultural heritage of the village.

Origin

The beginnings of the settlement that gave rise to the town date back to the 16th century, with the discovery of the Virgen de la Luz (Virgin of Light) and the construction of the chapel in her honour, around which the town of Guía grew.

The development of this town centre has unfolded along two almost parallel streets, Calle de Arriba and Calle de Abajo, which originated from the division of the old Camino Real.

From these two streets, other secondary streets were created that cross them and facilitate access and communication within the historic centre. Two of them close off the area designated as a Site of Cultural Interest on the north and south sides respectively: Calle del Pintor Martín González and Calle Tagoro, which connects with Calle de La Vera.