The Cactus Garden

The Cactus Garden was Cesar Manrique´s last work in Lanzarote. It is situated near the village of Guatiza at the road to Mala (Community of Teguise ) and very easy to identify by a cactus sculpture of 8m height made by Manrique and located right in front of it. The botanical garden of a size of 5000m2 exhibits about 10,000 examplars of cactuses from more than 1,000 different species originally coming from America, Madagascar and the Canary Islands, brought here by the expert of botany Estanislao Gonzalez Ferrer.

The garden was constructed upon a quarry where the local cultivators extract the volcanic ashes called rofe or picon from in order to use them to cover the growings and this way to safe the nocturnal humidity in the ground which is very important because of the lack of water.

The architectural work is created as a multileveld stone construction quite similar to a Roman amphitheatre. Most striking are the portico at the entrance, the shop and the coffee bar built of handworked basaltic stones. The garden is completed by a windmill restored by Manrique in 1973.

The visitor can choose himself where to go first. There are different itineraries in case of need for any guidance. The garden invites to admire the peculiar beauty of the numerous cactuses. Especially the ones being in bloom are quite marvellous. Furthermore, there is a nice pond with fishes where the visitor can take a rest. Before leaving the garden one should not miss to have a look inside the windmill, which offers a wide panorama upon the volcanic landscape around the garden. Great place to take a picture!