Description of the attraction
In the municipality of La Orotava, there is perhaps the most famous national park in the Canary Islands - the Teide Nature Reserve. It was formed in 1954 and covers the two peaks of the island of Tenerife - the Teide and Pico Viejo volcanoes, as well as the adjacent territory.
The area of the national park is 18,900 hectares. The most interesting object of the reserve is the Teide volcano, 3718 meters above sea level. In fact, the base of the volcano is located at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, therefore, once at its top, you can congratulate yourself, because you have conquered a mountain 7500 meters high. You can climb to the Teide crater, and for this you do not need to stubbornly and for a long time walk along a steep slope. The cable car rises to the mark of 3555 meters. Further, the path is closed, unless travelers, of course, have taken care of a special permit issued by the Teide National Park office in La Orotava, which allows you to walk a little more to look into the mouth of the volcano. From the point where the funicular delivers, as in the palm of your hand, you can see the island of Tenerife and other islands of the Canary archipelago.
The territory of the park, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2007, was once a sacred place for the Guanches, a people who lived in the Canary archipelago. The natives believed that in the mouth of the Teide volcano is the entrance to hell.
The volcano is sleeping now. The lava that formed during its last eruption mixed with the soil and contributed to the rapid growth of many native plant species. Among them there are 33 species of endemics, that is, those representatives of the flora that grow only in Tenerife.
