Jameos del Agua

Useful Information

photography — Jameos del Agua. Public Domain.

Location:	Lanzarote, Canaria. North east side of the island, along LZ-1.
Open:	Site: all year daily 10-18:30. Restaurant: all year daily 11:30-16:30, Sat 19-22. Bar: all year daily 10-16:30. Casa de Los Volcanes: all year daily 11-18. [2014]
Fee:	Adults EUR 9, Children (7-12) EUR 4.50, Children (0-6) free. [2014]
Classification:	lava tube, partly artificial.
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided, D=2 h (recommended).
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Jameos del Agua, Tel: +34-928-848020.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1966	first opened to the public.
1977	opening of the cultural center and the auditorium.
2001	concert hall closed for renovation.
15-FEB-2009	concert hall reopened.

Description

The Jameos del Agua (Cave of the Water) is the lowest part of the lava tube Cueva de Los Verdes, closest to the shore. The term Jameo is of Guanche origin and means cave or abyss. The Cueva de Los Verdes has about 20 jameos lined up like pearls on a string along the underground course of the tube. It is called Jameos del Agua because of the huge underground lake it contains. But actually there are three jameos, the Jameo Chico, the Jameo Grande and the Jameo Redondo.

The cave was developed by the Cabildo de Lanzarote (island government) as its first Centro de Arte, Cultura y Turismo (Centre of Art, Culture and Tourism). It was realized after plans by the local hero César Manrique. He was architect, environmentalist, and artist, and created a unique combination of nature and architecture, which is portrayed in documentaries and used as a location for movies. The works were carried out by Jésus Soto and Luis Morales. The plan of the government was to create a cultural center. The result is a unique location which is major tourist destination.

The Jameos del Agua is entered on a stone spiral staircase into the bar-restaurant in the Jameo Chico. A 100 m long path through a 13 m wide passage and across the lake leads to the Jameo Grande. This is the main jameo, the collapsed entrance, which was transformed into a garden with tropical plants and a turquoise-coloured pool. Although intended as a swimming pool by Manrique, it is not used for swimming any more.

On the far side of the Jameo the lava tube continues. Here is the location of the Auditorium, the underground concert hall seating 600 people. The concert hall has been renovated for several years, to apply modern security standards and is now reopened. The acoustics is excellent, and the auditorium is regularly used for concerts, especially for the prestigious Festival of Visual Music of Lanzarote.

The site also contains the Casa de Los Volcanes (Museum of Vulcanology). It explains the geologic processes which formed the Canarian Islands and this cave.

The underground lake contains a troglobiont crab (Munidopsis polymorpha) which also live in the sea below 2,000 m. They are called jameito in resemblance to the name of the cave or cangrejo ciego (blind crab). They are the official symbol of the island and used in various promotional campaigns. The level of the lake is connected with the tides, as it contains actually sea water. The is no cave connecting sea and lake, but the lava tube continued once further and the lowest end was flooded by te rising sea level. The tube collapsed and the debris with its many cracks and crevices allows the sea water to flow into the cavern.