Tenerife [antikvár]

Multicolor majolicas Illustrating the arrival of the conquistadores on Tenerife; below, the final defeat of the Guanches. History, climate, inhabitants. Situated between the Grand Canary island, to the south east, and the small Gomera island, to the south west, Tenerife is by far the largest island in the Canary archipelago. Covering over two thousand square kilometres and vaguely triangular, it rises out of the ocean like an imposing pyramid. In the language of the ancient Guanche natives, its name means "white mountain", referring to the snow-capped Teide mountains, which form a large vulcanic cone rising 3718 metres above the entire archipelago. Millions of years ago earthquakes and eruptions made the Canary Islands rise from the sea bottom. Ancient legend reechoed in Plato's Dialogues, has it that the archipelago is all that remains of the mythical continent of Atlantis, brought down by an enormous cataclysm. Known by the Mediterranean races since the dawn of history by the name of the garden of the Hesperides, Elysian Fields and Island of Fortune, the Canary Islands were only colon- ^TAL! Í 4