When we visited Tenerife in July 2007, my wife and I drove through the Las Canadas del Teide National Park and onto La Orotava in order to take a look at this fine example of an old Tenerife town.

Click on the images for larger pictures. 

La Orotava is situated some 6km from Puerto de la Cruz and has a wealth of history and classical Tenerife architecture. Whilst there, we took time to walk around the Jardin Victoria which is a nineteenth century style garden in the middle of the town that offers great views of the town and out towards the coast.

Taking centrepiece of the Garden is a stunning Carrara Marble Mausoleum that was designed by the French architect Adolph Coquet in 1882. If you take the time to walk to the top of this monument you will be treated to a stunning view of the roof tops of La Orotava.

I love looking  at roof tops, at the different materials used as well as the different styles of architecture and La Orotava is without doubt one of the nicest towns to do this in so the next time you are in Tenerife why don’t you take a trip over the top of Teide to visit La Orotava and see the splendour of this Tenerife town for yourself.

One of the best times of the year to visit La Orotava is in the month of June at the feast of Corpus Christi when the residents of La Orotava cover the streets with a carpet of flowers that depict scenes from the Bible, life in La Orotava and other intricate patterns.

Special thanks to Dr Leslie Brown who showed us around his Tenerife home town.