“The road to the sea, madam, along the coast of Acentejo, where the old ones went down to the sea.” This is the road that took our ancestors to the coast of Acentejo. Camino del Mar is the road that takes us to Barranco Hondo and you can see the magnificent little port that was used to transport all kinds of goods.
Here is the area of “Malpaís”, where the Margraves of Villanueva del Prado lodged and did their botanical work before transferring it to the Botanical Garden of Puerto de la Cruz. A place that harbours so much history in so little space that it will make you want to visit it again.
The Trail to Barranco Hondo
This trail separates La Victoria from Santa Úrsula, and makes for an interesting way of discovering the peculiarities of Barranco Hondo, a unique place of encounter between nature and man since the Guanches all the way to the 20th century. Ever since the conquest it has been a natural habitat for the people of Acentejo, and later became important for commerce. (More information)
Estate and Hermitage of Saint Clement (Hacienda de Malpaís)
The Estate and Hermitage of Saint Clement, owned by the Margrave of Villanueva del Prado, the Nava and Grimón family, were built in the seventeenth century. It is in this Canarian-style hacienda and hermitage where the Marquis carried out the first botanical tests before establishing the famous Hijuela of the Villa de la Orotava Botanical Garden and the subsequent installation which has many plants known as the Botanical Garden of Puerto de la Cruz.
An interesting aside is the fact that part of the possessions of the margraves were kept at hermitage of Saint Clement, the most valuable being the Triptych of Nava.
The Port of Barranco Hondo
A small harbour at the mouth of the ravine of Barranco Hondo was used by our ancestors to trade local products. This also used to be an object of concern of the authorities, since it was used to smuggle large quantities of malvasia rosé wines, so important in the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as cause for anxiety in times of epidemics due to the clandestine arrival of strangers.
