Friday, August 08, 2008
Fire destroys the Casa Amarilla, Puerto de la Cruz
In the early hours of this morning, fire destroyed a house, declared in 2005 as being of cultural interest in Tenerife, the so named Casa Amarilla (for the colour of its walls, amarilla means yellow) in the district of San Fernando in Puerto de la Cruz.
Whilst the cause of the fire is, as yet, still unknown, a neighbour reported hearing a noise and seeing light, thought to have been from a lantern, at around 6 a.m., in what was the ruined, uninhabited property. The alarm was raised when the building began to burn at 6.30 a.m.
The house, declared a historical site, was built in the early part of the 20th Century and, between 1913 and 1920, housed the first primatology centre in the world. Its director was world-famous German psychologist, Wolfgang Köhler. He remained there for six years, during which time, he wrote a book on problem solving titled The Mentality of Apes (1917).
Only in July, a last ditch attempt was made to save the building, when the Faculty of Psychology at the University of La Laguna (with the backing of others, including the Wolfgang Köhler Association), had presented a project to the Tenerife Island Corporation and the town hall in Puerto de la Cruz, to restore the house and develop it as an unique tourist attraction.
More (in Spanish) Arde la 'Casa Amarilla' del barrio de San Fernando en Puerto de La Cruz (Tenerife)
Photo: n1r4 All rights reserved
