La Orotava
Museo de las Alfombras (Carpet Museum)
Inaugurated in June 2007, this museum is located in calle San Francisco no. 5, next to the popular Casa de los Balcones and opens from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The carpets are made in La Orotava to celebrate Corpus Christi. This festivity has been commemorated in La Orotava since the town was founded. It gained in importance, however, in the mid-nineteenth century when several members of the Monteverde family, inspired by Leonor del Castillo, created a floral carpet to honour the passing of the Eucharist in front of their house. Since then, La Orotava carpets have circled the globe. This fleeting art attracts thousands of visitors. The museum displays several elements, paintings and sketches related to the making and history of these carpets created using flowers and volcanic sands from Mt. Teide.
Casa de los Balcones (Local Customs) and Casa de Molina
These buildings date from the seventeenth- and late-sixteenth centuries, respectively, and contain a wide range of openwork, embroideries and craftwork from the Canaries. The first building, Casa de los Balconies, contains magnificent examples of Canary Island balconies and courtyards, as well as a museum of local customs.
At Casa de Molina, visitors can admire a smaller version of La Orotava’s acclaimed carpets made from volcanic sands. Opening times: Monday to Saturday from 8.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m.
C/ San Francisco, 3 y 4
Phone 922 330 629 - Fax 922 331 839
Web: www.casa-balcones.com
MUSEUM OF LATIN AMERICAN HANDICRAFT
C/ Tomás Zerolo - next to the church of Santo Domingo
Tel: 922 321746 - Fax: 922 335811
The restored former Dominican convent now houses the museum of Latin American Handicraft.
There are five rooms laid out on two floors, where only part of their extensive stock is on exhibition: musical instruments, textile crafts, ceramics, fibres and popular art.
The museum holds part of the García Cabrejo textile collection, with objects from the 15th century and more than seven thousand pieces of pottery from the Latin American Co-operation Institute. A visit to the museum also enables you to appreciate the beauty of the convent.
Opening Times: Monday to Friday: from 9.00 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday: from 9.00 a.m. to 1 p.m.
http://artenerife.com/en/craft-museum/
PINOLERE ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM
The museum is situated in the Pinolere district, in the upper part of La Orotava, set in the grounds that host the district´s Craft Fair every year.
The exhibition area, with a total area of 3,000 m2, recreates different aspects of the architectural, environmental, agricultural and socio-cultural landscape of the foot hills of the Orotava Valley.
It is organised into two thematic areas: the "Juan Gonzalez Fariña" museum of Canary Island basketwork and the "Francisco Luis Acosta" museum of Pinolere history.
Phone 922 336 733
Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday: from 10:00 to 14:00 h. Monday closed.
