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Saturday, May 26, 2007
The Traditional Canarian Balcony
The website of the district of Tejeda, in Gran Canaria, tells us of El Balcón Canario (The Canarian Balcony) that, "The typical Canarian balcony has its origin in the South-Andalusian traditional handcrafted woodwork, the Mudéjar style (with a combination of Moorish, Romanesque and Gothic elements), although some of the architectonic characteristics might have a Portuguese origin."
These beautiful balconies are the most characteristic element of the architecture on these islands and come in many forms and sizes; open, closed in with shutters, old and new, rustic or intricately carved and frequently with tiled roofs. Usually on the principal facade of buildings, but not always and, the majority are made of wood.
Rincones del Atlántico magazine has a PDF document that you can download from this page (click the link that says "Haga click aquí para descargarlo" to get it) and, which contains a larger illustration of the painting above - which happens to be of this same balcony, on the side of the Casa Benítez de las Cuevas in La Orotava - plus many photos of a huge variety of balcony examples from around the islands.
