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Tourists on Tenerife holidays wonder why the Canary Islands had so many coastal castles. However, the positioning of the Canary Islands has left them vulnerable to attacks whether it’s from treasure-hungry pirates looking for loot to steal from ships returning from the newly discovered Americas or foreign armies.However, once the pirates ran out of ships to plunder they started looting and attacking Tenerife. Many of the fortifications that were built during the 16th and 17th centuries remain to this date and can be seen from the coast.

This programme of fortification building persisted into the early 19th century, when Spain’s American colonies started fighting for their Independence. When Spain lost out to them, there were fears that the new colonies would band together and sack the Canary Islands, so many new defences were built. It never happened. The best preserved castles feature heavily on the itinearary of many a tourist on their Tenerife holidays and these are Santo Cristo de Paso Alta, San Andres Castle, the castle of Saint Cristobal and the San Miguel castle at Garachico.

The San Miguel castle at Garachico is the best preserved castle on the island.It dates from the 16th century and was built to protect the town from pirate raids. In 1706, a volcano erupted engulfing the town and completely destroying the harbour but the castle stood firm. A museum inside the castle chronicles the history of the citadel and from the battlements there are superb views over the town to the sea beyond. Follow the steps down from the castle to the myriad of rock pools. They were formed when the volcano’s lava met the sea. The castle at San Miguel hosts a Medieval Feast 4 nights a week. Over a medieval banquet and plenty of wine, you are treated to an evening of jousting, armed combat and horse skills. The evening finishes with a display of ‘capoeira’ a type of fighting dance, devised by Brazilian slaves hundreds of years ago. For some great deals on packages to visit Tenerife and it’s amazing castles why not visit YouTravel.com. 

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Tags: Tenerife holidays, Youtravel.com

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 29th, 2011 at 12:07 pm and is filed under Travel and Lesure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.