_small.jpg "The Cactus Garden in Guatiza in Lanzarote. Cactus Garden. Click to enlarge the image in Adobe Stock (new tab).") The Cactus Garden was installed in an old quarry pozzolan, or volcanic lapilli, which was extracted from rofe or picón, used extensively by farmers Lanzarote practicing of technical enarenado. This career rofe (rofero) exploited the lapilli of one of the craters of the volcano Las Calderetas located near the east coast of Lanzarote, north of Guatiza. The former quarry became a garbage dump. As in other sites, such as Fort St. Joseph in Arrecife or tanks of Tahíche, César Manrique tried to preserve and restore the historic and natural heritage of his native island, giving it a new function._small.jpg "The Cactus Garden in Guatiza in Lanzarote. Garden Center. Click to enlarge the image in Adobe Stock (new tab).") The Cactus Garden is as an amphitheater, over 5 000 m² area, which occupies the pit left by the operation of the former quarry, with a succession of terraces arranged in terraces supported by thick stone walls volcanic, which are distributed various collections of succulents; floors are covered pozzolan.
_small.jpg "The Cactus Garden in Guatiza in Lanzarote. Pool. Click to enlarge the image.") Winding staircases, stone slabs pavers evoke Japanese gardens; blocks of reddish or blackish lava dot the landscape and in the center of the arena are the tall columns of volcanic dykes as left by the quarrying and small basins, covered with water lilies, where fish red swim lazily and when the sparrows bathe with delight.
_small.jpg "The Cactus Garden in Guatiza in Lanzarote. The mill of the Cactus Garden. Click to enlarge the image in Adobe Stock (new tab).") On the northern edge of the crater an old windmill has been restored; sometimes it is open to visitors. This mill was a mill gofio, a roasted corn flour which was the staple food of the people of Lanzarote.
The area stretching from Guatiza to Mala was one of the main production areas of red cochineal, a natural dye, carmine, cochineal extract of an insect whose larvae feed on opuntias or snowshoes cactus including the prickly pear. The Cactus Garden perpetuates the memory of this culture of cactus, favored by the arid climate of Lanzarote. _small.jpg "The Cactus Garden in Guatiza in Lanzarote. Cactus Garden. Click to enlarge the image.") However the garden is not limited to only opuntias or even solely cacti; the cactus garden has more than 7,200 individuals from over 1,100 species of succulent plants: cactus, euphorbia, agave, aloe and so on. Although some identifications are inadequate, most specimens are labeled with their botanical names and their region of origin: the species of cacti and agaves are mainly from America, euphorbias and aloes from Africa; some species are from the Indian subcontinent. The few species endemic to the Canary Islands are featured updates. This is the botanist Estanislao Gonzalez Ferrer who was responsible for the selection and collection of succulents specimens.
All species of succulents have a multitude of shapes, colors and sizes, from tiny cactus shaped woolly ball, large thorny cactus pumpkin-shaped or large cactus-shaped hooks up gigantic euphorbias the size of a tree. This variety of strange shapes, arranged aesthetically, are visiting the Cactus Garden a kind of escape from the weather, especially in the late afternoon when the shadows of the cactus stretching to infinity. |
.jpg "The Cactus Garden in Guatiza in Lanzarote. The cactus garden in the old crater. Click to enlarge the image.")
Visits
.jpg "The Cactus Garden in Guatiza in Lanzarote. Pool. Click to enlarge the image.")
.jpg "The Cactus Garden in Guatiza in Lanzarote. Cactus Garden. Click to enlarge the image.")
Practical information
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_small.jpg "The Cactus Garden in Guatiza in Lanzarote. The cactus metal emblem of the Cactus Garden. Click to enlarge the image in Adobe Stock (new tab).")
_small.jpg "The Cactus Garden in Guatiza in Lanzarote. The entrance gate of the cactus garden. Click to enlarge the image in Adobe Stock (new tab).")
.jpg "The Cactus Garden in Guatiza in Lanzarote. Boutique du Cactus Garden. Click to enlarge the image.")
.jpg "The Cactus Garden in Guatiza in Lanzarote. The Cactus Garden cafeteria designed by César Manrique. Click to enlarge the image.")
_small.jpg "The Cactus Garden in Guatiza in Lanzarote. The terrace of the cafeteria. Click to enlarge the image in Adobe Stock (new tab).")
_small.jpg "The Cactus Garden in Guatiza in Lanzarote. The Mill cactus garden. Click to enlarge the image in Adobe Stock (new tab).")
