Patrimonial resources and ethnographic elements
Guía de Isora boasts one of the archipelago’s best-preserved ethnographic heritages. Different elements along the mid slopes demonstrate the town’s traditional way of life. A walk through the different hamlets in the town reveals elements such as threshing floors and ovens, which in turn reveal the social and economic reality of the town until the mid-20th century.
The variety of paths in the town means this patrimony can be comfortably explored, as many of the elements have been well preserved. Guía’s immediate volcanic surroundings led to the creation of fascinating rural settlements such as Chirche, Aripe and Caserío de las Fuentes, a patrimonial legacy that is today an authentic open-air ethnographic museum.
In the town of Guía de Isora, and along its path network, you can find elements such as:
Mounds of stones
These agricultural constructions were traditionally built with the stones that farmers removed from the fields to facilitate their work. They were piled up in different shapes: square, circular, conical, etc. The circular shape was most used to pile up the leftover stones.
Although no mortar was used to join and support them, they are still large constructions.
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Tile oven
The tile oven is a four-sided construction at the base and circular at the top. It consists of a fireplace, chamber, chimney and mud coating. Designed for traditional tile production, the production capacity varied according to the chamber size, oscillating between 1,000 and 1,500 tiles. The largest concentration of these ovens is in the towns of Aripe and Chirche, but they can also be found in other hamlets such as El Jaral and Vera de Erques.
Threshing floor
Circular structured surface, dug out in rock, or built on flattened earth, prepared to winnow and thresh cereal. It contains a windbreaking wall, perimeter stones, paving and a central stone, also called the mother stone. Considering how important the wind was, they were located in well-ventilated places on hill-tops or rises.
Washbasins
Rectangular construction, usually formed by the wide part of a ditch, and used for washing clothes. Comprising one or several sinks, it can appear built onto the side of a dwelling and a water tank, or on its own.
Bread oven
Consists of a circular base and vaulted roof as well as an air vent and opening to introduce the bread to be baked. It can appear built onto the side of a dwelling or separate. In addition to bread, traditional confectionary was also cooked in them.
