La Orotava

▪ Spain

      town, northern Tenerife island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife provincia (province), in the Canary Islands comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), Spain, just southwest of Santa Cruz de Tenerife city. The town is a health resort with its port, Puerto de la Cruz, on the coast immediately to the northwest. La Orotava is known for its typical Canarian architecture. A notable landmark is the House of the Balconies (1632). La Orotova lies in the Orotava Valley, which has wooded hillsides and banana plantations. It was called the most beautiful place in the world by the German naturalist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt (Humboldt, Alexander von), who visited there in 1799. Its chief agricultural products are bananas, tobacco, and cochineal, a red dyestuff. La Orotava has an artisan tradition, and laces, ceramics, and wood and leather items are displayed in the town's major handicraft museums—the Casa Torrehermosa Museum of Artisanship and the Museum of Spanish-American Artisanship. The former focuses on Canarian artisanship and hosts craft workshops and demonstrations; the latter features crafts from various regions of Spain and its former colonies. La Orotava's valleys reach Teide National Park, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2007. The park is the location of a volcanic crater and Teide Peak, the highest point in Spain. Pop. (2007 est.) mun., 40,644.

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