Cave dwellings in Lanzarote (Canary Islands)

Lanzarote is a black and red land emerging from the waters of the Atlantic, off the Sahara coast. The island is the result of an intense volcanic activity and it is impossible to ignore the presence of the volcanoes which occur everywhere in the landscape. The last volcanic eruption dates from 1824 and the population still remember the terrible history of the Timanfaya eruption that began in 1730 and continued for more than 2000 days, covering about one third of the island surface and radically changing its physiognomy. It is the second largest lava eruption recorded within historic time after the Laki eruption (Iceland). Specific caves - the lava tunnels - are dispersed in this volcanic landscape. If the magma is fluid enough, it flows quickly and it cools and solidifies only as it comes into contact with the outside. The lava crystallizes on the edges of the flow, developing a hard crust whereas the lava is still liquid in the center. When the lava flow has ceased, the solidified walls delimit a lava tube, that is, a tube surrounding a large or small central cavity. When the artist César Manrique returned to Lanzarote in 1968, he incorporated lava caves in the building of his home and studio. He thus created an absolutely unique rock cut house. This prolific artist, who established through his work a veritable dialog with nature and landscapes, devised also a vast house dug into a cliff.

Lava flow

Fire Mountains

Volcanic desert

Nestling in the cliff side

Natural window

Labyrinth

Tunnel

Bathroom

Sleeping room

Evening

Bar

Taro de Tahíche

Volcanic bubble

Baslatic wall

White bubble

The Woman and her shadow

Tunnel

Tunnel