La Orotava

Before the Spanish conquest, the Guanche people of the Menceyato de Taoro lived along ravines and hillsides, gathering food from the valley and treating the peak of Teide, which rises within this municipality, as a sacred place. The defeat of their warriors marked the effective end of indigenous resistance, though some Guanches held out in remote areas. La Orotava remained under La Laguna's authority until King Felipe IV granted it the status of an independent villa on 28 November 1648.

In 1905, King Alfonso XIII awarded it the title of Muy Noble y Leal Villa.

The most prominent religious building is the Parish Church of Nuestra Señora de la Concepción, a National Monument built in the second half of its founding century. The Villa de Arriba quarter holds the Parish of San Juan Bautista, which became an independent parish in 1681. The former Hospital de la Santísima Trinidad sits alongside the Church of San Francisco, while the former convent of San Benito now houses the Museo de Artesanía Hispanoamericana de Tenerife (MAIT), dedicated to Hispanic-American crafts. The Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán occupies another ex-convent. The Parish of San Isidro Labrador, known as El Calvario, was designed by Mariano Estanga in 1917. The former Augustinian convent of Nuestra Señora de Gracia now serves as the Casa de la Cultura. Several ermitas are scattered across the town, dedicated to Santa Catalina, Nuestra Señora del Carmen, San Felipe, La Piedad, and the Inmaculada Concepción, alongside the Salesian Chapel of María Auxiliadora.

The historic centre is lined with noble mansions: the Casa de los Balcones (also known as the Casa de Fonseca) is the most visited, and the houses of Lercaro, Zárate-Machado, Mesa, Monteverde, Ponte, and Franchy are spread through the old streets. The town hall (palacio municipal), the Liceo de Taoro, and the Salesian-run Colegio San Isidro, founded by Nicandro González y Borges, are further landmarks.

The Ruta de los Molinos traces the remains of a water-mill network that once used wooden aqueducts and stone arches to channel water down the valley slope for grinding cereals into gofio. At its peak the route had thirteen mills; ten still stand, though only three remain operational, using relatively modern technology.

La Orotava sits just south of the TF-5 expressway, about 26 km from La Laguna and 35 km from Santa Cruz. Parking in the centre is very scarce, and a day visit by bus is considerably easier; long-distance Titsa buses serve the town and double as the local service. Most sights are walkable on foot if you are comfortable with steep streets.

The surrounding Orotava Valley produces wines under the Denominación de Origen Valle de la Orotava; the main red varieties are listán negro and negramoll, and the principal whites are gual, malvasía, and verdello.