Cueva de los Verdes

The Corona volcano erupted around three to four thousand years ago and its lava formed a tube running about six kilometres from the crater to the coast and on under the sea for a further kilometre and a half, one of the longest volcanic tunnels known. The Cueva de los Verdes is an inland section of it, open on a guided walk of about a kilometre through galleries on two levels with lava formations, colour bands in the rock and a lighting scheme by Jesus Soto, Manrique's collaborator, that works with the shapes rather than flooding them. Islanders used the tunnel to hide from Berber raids in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Some two kilometres were opened to visitors in the 1960s, and a concert hall near the entrance seats about five hundred. The route ends with an optical effect that visitors are asked not to have described in advance.

What's there

• The two-level galleries - a lava tunnel with an upper and lower passage.
• The lighting scheme - a designed installation working with the rock forms.
• The refuge history - the tunnel's use as shelter from pirate raids.
• The final effect - an optical illusion at the end of the route.

When to go

Year-round; the temperature inside is constant and the cave is unaffected by weather. Tours run at set intervals and book out in high season and on cruise days.

Good to know

Access is by guided tour only, in Spanish and English, moving as a group. The route has uneven floors, low sections and steps and is not accessible. Photography is limited by the low light.

Nearby

Jameos del Agua is a further section of the same tube; Mirador del Rio and Haria lie north and west.

Key facts