Centro de Interpretación de Risco Caído

Useful Information

Location:	Calle Camino de la Cilla, s/n, Artenara, Gran Canaria. (28.020447, -15.647619)
Open:	All year daily 11-12. Only with reservation. [2023]
Fee:	free. [2023]
Classification:	Cave Replica Underground Museums
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Centro de Interpretación de Risco Caído, Calle Camino de la Cilla, s/n, Artenara, Gran Canaria, Tel: +34-649-50-77-46. E-mail:
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

2019	inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
JUN-2020	life-size reproduction of cave 6 of the archaeological complex inaugurated.

Description

The full name is actually Centro de Interpretación de Risco Caído y las Montañas Sagradas de Gran Canaria (Risco Caído and the Sacred Mountains of Gran Canaria Interpretation Centre). The fact that we need a full paragraph to just spell the name might tell you why we shortened it.

This museum is located at the Risco Caído archaeological site, which is currently closed for conservation and research reasons. But the museum is open, and it contains a spectacular replica of the cave number six of Risco Caído, a unique place related to the almogarén. Here the Guanche carried out their rituals and religious practices. The most important discovery here is probably the astronomical dome, where the sun and moon illuminate a group of inverted triangles carved into the rock. Similar to other astronomical sites, the hole in the ceiling creates a ray of light which wanders across the wall during the day. The engravings were placed, so they not only work as a sort of sundial, they also show the season of the year. They were also connected to fertility rites symbolized by the inverted triangles which are interpreted as pubic triangles.

The new interpretation center was built at Artenara, which we had already listed for 20 years. This town is full of cave houses, underground restaurants and more. However, the archaeological heritage of the whole area was recognized by UNESCO in 2019 and inscribed on the World Heritage List. As a result, three visitor centers were built, this is probably the most interesting one. It was built underground, and is actually a museum and a cave replica at the same time. And it is free and open daily, unfortunately, there are not enough visitors to allow them to keep it open all the time. So it is necessary to reserve beforehand, for example by email. But there are no restrictions, it's not necessary to reserve for a group of a certain size. Nevertheless, travelling through the mountains is time-consuming, and you never know how long it takes to navigate the narrow and winding roads, which makes the site a little unattractive for tourists. On the other hand, we understand that it is hard to keep the site open if no visitor shows up for hours. Our guess would be, if you are close and think about visiting, you might probably try to make an immediate reservation. If you are lucky, there are already some visitors at the museum, otherwise try one of the cave restaurants for lunch while you wait.