Insula de Gran Canaria

Title

Insula de Gran Canaria

Description

Map shows the city of Alagoa, battle and conquest of the city in 1599 by the dutch ( city localized as Gran Canaria by an error).

ca. 1600

Artist

Orlers & de Haestens

Historical Description

Canary islands with Teneriffa, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera und El Hierro. The archipelago also includes a number of islands and islets: La Graciosa, Alegranza, Isla de Lobos, Montaña Clara, Roque del Oeste and Roque del Este. In ancient times, the island chain was often referred to as "the Fortunate Isles". The Canary Islands are the most southerly region of Spain and the largest and most populated archipelago of the Macaronesia region. From the 4th century until the rediscovery of the Canary Islands by the Europeans in the 14th century, different cultures developed independently on the individual islands. These were based on the same principles but had so many special features that one cannot speak of a "culture of the Guanches of the Canary Islands". There was the culture of the Majos in Lanzarote, that of the Majoreros in Fuerteventura, that of the Bimbaches in El Hierro, that of the Gomeros in La Gomera, that of the Canarios in Gran Canaria, that of the Benahoaritas in La Palma and that of the Guanches in Tenerife. The naming of the indigenous people of all islands with the designation of the indigenous people of the island of Tenerife as Guanche, which was common for a long time, ignores the differentiated cultural developments on the different islands.