Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Day of Traditions in Chirche
The village of Chirche (map) is 3 kilometres from the town of Guia de Isora, in the western part of the island of Tenerife and preserves the typical traditional architecture of the south - nowadays turned into rural tourist accommodation, such as the Casa de Abuelo (it means Grandpa’s Home) - and serves as a living museum.
This weekend, the quiet village is to celebrate its 8th annual Day of Traditions, where locals carry out jobs, do household chores and play children's games typical of the village from the first half of the twentieth century.
From 10.30 a.m. on Sunday, 27th July, visitors can see how the rural inhabitants thresh wheat, made rustic tejas (roof tiles) in the old tile ovens, toasted the grain, or ground almonds, as well as other domestic tasks, such as sewing, doing laundry in the public washtubs, or bringing water from the community tap.
Prior to that, on Saturday, 26th July, from 7 p.m., there's various workshops of folklore and dance, as well as traditional sports and games, which continue until 9.30, when there will be a showing of a documentary film.
More images of Él Día de las Tradiciones
How to get there: the 417 bus goes from Los Cristianos to Guía de Isora, via Playa de las Américas, roughly every 60 minutes at weekends. From Guía de Isora to Chirche (and back), there is a bus 491, but this does not (normally) operate on Saturdays, Sundays or weekends (whether they might lay any on special for this event, I can't say). If you're feeling energetic, you might walk, otherwise, there are sure to be taxis in Guía de Isora.
