Telde

Telde is a community on the Canary island of Gran Canaria. Telde has 102 170 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2013) over an area of ​​102.43 km ². Near the community town of Gando is the international airport of Gran Canaria.

Telde is located south of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and northeast of Puerto Rico. The neighboring municipalities are Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in the north, in the south of Ingenio, Valsequillo in the west and Santa Brigida in the northwest.

Population

History

Even in old Canary Telde time was an important center of the island: It was the seat of government of the ruling on the eastern part of the island Guanarteme, the king of the natives. Archaeological finds ( pottery shards, and others) as well as the contemporary report of the Leonardo Torriani, who visited the island at the time of the Spanish conquest, suggest that Telde represented in addition to its political importance also an important market center. Telde sat down at that time of two towns together: Tara and Cendro. In the area of the former Tara one of the most important examples of the culture of the Guanches was found, apparently female cult figure "Idol of Tara ". After the Spanish conquest of the island, the island administration founded the village Telde with the center of San Francisco in the north of the present town of Los Llanos and the settlement thereof south. While at headquarters, a Franciscan monastery and church of San Juan Bautista settled the Spanish population in the northern part and wealthy merchants built their estate, lived in Los Llanos in Africa captured black slaves. These were put to work on the sugar plantations and the sugar mills in the region and thus made ​​up the wealth of the upper class of Telde. This is also one of the most important slave markets of the Canary Islands took place: The slaves were like cattle offered, assessed and sold in a humiliating manner. The city developed into the Las Palmas important settlement on the island and also benefited from its proximity to the capital. Due to its inland location, it was also safe in the event of attacks by privateers who raided the Canary Islands more often. In 1836, the Franciscans ( OFM) were expelled from Telde. In 1843 the engineer Juan León y Castillo was born in Telde, the later the expansion and modernization of the port of Las Palmas performed. In the 20th century had Telde, as the whole island, take an economic decline. Only with the construction and multiple expansions of the international airport in the east of the district, the situation recovered. Today is Telde headquarters of many Canarian companies, it is also the most important shopping center of the island.

Attractions

The historic sights are concentrated in the old city of Telde, the Barrio San Francisco in the north of the city area. As the most important landmark of the city and as one of art history 's most valuable religious buildings of the island is the urban parish of San Juan Bautista, which is dedicated to John the Baptist (28 ° 0 ' 11.7 " N, 15 ° 24' 50 " W28.003254 - 15.41388 ). Around 1520 began the construction of the three-aisled, assembled from different colored volcanic rock church, the late-Gothic main facade is still from the 16th century receive. In the 17th and 18th centuries structural changes in the Baroque style in the 19th century and were made was the renovation of the nave. The two bell towers were only in the 20th century built. Art historically significant is inside the church, the Flemish reredos of the high altar, which was created in 1500 and six scenes from the life of the Virgin Mother of God, Mary shows: the birth of Jesus Christ, the marriage of Mary and Joseph, the Annunciation by the Archangel Gabriel, the Visitation Mary, the circumcision of Jesus and the Adoration of the Magi. The Christ on the cross on the high altar was in the 16th century manufactured in Mexico from corn marrow and therefore weighs in spite of his life-size, only 7 kg. The representation of St. Bernard is a work of Vicente Carducci (1578-1638), several sculptures in the church date of Luján Pérez. Also in the old town in an old Canarian mansion with wooden balconies and courtyard, the Museo León y Castillo, dedicated to the locally born brothers León y Castillo. Fernando León y Castillo (1842-1918) sat as a Spanish foreign minister from 1881 especially for the affairs of the Canary islands, his plan of an international commercial port in Las Palmas was eventually taken over by his brother Juan León y Castillo, as the construction of the port engineer initiated. In the museum, antique Canarian furniture, personal mementos of the brothers and images as well as plans of the port of Las Palmas are shown. Outside the city, the 319m Montana de las Cuatro Puertas, the mountain of the four gates that housed a major cult center in old Canary time rises. It is named after four into the mountain leading, artificial rock openings, behind which a hall adjoins that formed the cult center. The free space outside the cave was used as tagoror, as a meeting place. The south slope of the mountain is traversed by altkanarischen caves, which were joined by still preserved stone stairs.