Biodiversity in the Canary Islands, and the abundance of remains from an extinct culture meant that the islands were considered outstanding laboratories for investigating man and nature by the many scientists (including Darwin, Humboldt, Verneau, Lyell, Webb and Berthelot) who visited the islands in the 18th and 19th centuries. This interest generated an increasing stock of archaeological, bio-anthropologic and naturalist assets in a range of both public and private collections, which created the foundations on which the Tenerife Cabildo, or island government, created the Tenerife Museum of Natural Sciences and the Tenerife Archaeology Museum in the 1950s.

In the end, these two museums have been merged together with the Canary Island Institute of Bio-anthropology, to create the modern Museum of Man and Nature, providing visitors with all the potential of the contents, collections and knowledge accumulated over decades of research and scientific work, offering a stringently scientific and user-friendly view of the natural wealth of the Canary Islands and their pre-Hispanic populations. The Museum of Man and Nature is located in the former Civil Hospital, a leading example of the neo-classical architecture of the islands, and probably the masterpiece of architect Oráa. A visit to the permanent exhibition starts on the Ground Floor, with the "Origins and Nature of the Canary Island Archipelago".

Modern audio-visual techniques are used to display different aspects of the natural environment of the islands: their geological origin and evolution, volcanic and meteorological phenomena that have forged the landscape and an interesting insight into Canary Island ecosystems and their rich biodiversity.

The route starts with an Introduction room (Floor 1), which deals with the islands as ideal laboratories for studying culture and the natural environment. One can then choose to visit the Natural Sciences ring or the Archaeology ring.

The former includes rooms devoted to "Botany", "Terrestrial invertebrates" and "Terrestrial vertebrates", while the symmetric Archaeology ring includes the following rooms: "Collections" and "Archaeology of Tenerife".One then goes up to Floor 2 of the museum, where a more traditional form of museum exhibition is used, although it is still surprising.

The route starts in an introduction room entitled "The Canary Islands down the Ages", with contents that range from the first reports of the islands in ancient times, to the present day. In the Archaeology ring, one finds the thematic units "Collections", with pre-Columbine art and African ethnography, reflecting the cultural diversity of Africa and the pre-Hispanic cultures of Central and South America, "The Pre-History of the Canary Islands", where the life style of the ancient settlers of the Canary Islands is explained, and "Human Bio-Anthropology", the contents of which includes impressive Guanche mommies. If you choose the Natural Sciences circuit, you will find rooms devoted to "Fossils, Minerals and Rocks", with whimsical examples of the Mineral Kingdom, and "Marine Biology", where visitors are submerged in the beauty and natural wealth of the marine environment of the islands, with spectacular specimens and life-size replicas of whales, turtles, etc. made in the museums own taxidermy workshops.

Opening Times: from Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 to 19:00 h. (subject to modification).Monday closed.
Address: Museo de la Naturaleza y el Hombre (Antiguo Hospital Civil)
Calle Fuente Morales s/n.
38003 Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
General Information Telephone numbers: 922 535 816 ; Fax: 922 294 345

This museum consists of fourteen rooms and the collection is made up mainly of paintings, although there are also exhibits of sculptures and of the lesser arts. It has both its own pieces and a deposit of the works of the Prado Museum in Madrid from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

The best works include: "San Jose", by Ribera "Portrait of Isabel II", by Federico de Madrazo "Portrait of Fernando Viscaí", by Joaquin Sorolla the "Triptico de Nava", of the 16th century Flemish school, the central part of which is by Peter Coeck, recently restored by the Spanish Institute of Historic Heritage.

The museum also has a wide sample of the best Canary Island painters as part of its permanent collection, with works by Gaspar de Quevedo, Cristobal Hernandez de Quintana, Juan de Miranda, Gonzalez Mendez, Valentin Sanz, Bonnin, Sureda, Alfaro, Guezala, Pedro Gonzalez and Oscar Dominguez, among others.

C/ Jose Murphy, 12 (Plaza del Principe)
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Tel: 922 24 43 58
Fax: 922 27 44 17
Opening Times: from Tuesday to Friday, from 10:00 to 20:00 h
Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 to 14:00 h (Monday closed).

This museum was founded in 1988, in the Almeida Castle and it has become one of the best research centres for historic cartography of the Canary Islands.

The ample collection of weapons and other military objects, includes a large area devoted to Nelson, failed invasion of Santa Cruz on the 25th of July 1797. In the exhibition that explains the events of this attack, one can see the famous Tiger cannon that, according to tradition, injured Nelson, causing the amputation of his right arm, along with uniforms and personal belongings of leading military figures and models of old military constructions.

The main hall contains a display of flags left behind by the troops of Horatio Nelson and the Canary Island militia flags.

The museum also exhibits collections of the old weapons used by Guanches and Spaniards in the battles of the Conquest of Tenerife that were fought in the late 15th century, and oil paintings and water colours by famous Canary Island painters.

C/ San Isidro,1 (Castillo de Almeida)
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Tel.: 922 843 500 Fax: 922 24 95 04
Opening Times: Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 14:00 h (Free admission).

The History Museum and Island Archives are located in an old mansion, the magnificent Casa Lercaro, which dates from 1593 and belonged to the Lercaro family.

The History Museum offers detailed information about the civil, military and religious history of the island. Its teaching task is accompanied by many significant objects from the different periods in history covered by the museum. You can also see the largest collection of maps, navigational charts and geographic illustrations in the Canary Islands.

The eleven rooms are equipped with explanatory panels that give you an overview of how Tenerife has developed institutionally, socially, economically and culturally since the 15th century.

There is an extensive collection of maps of the Canary Islands, some dating from the 16th century.

C/ San Agustín, 22 (Casa Lercaro)
Tel: 922 630121 / 922 630103 Fax: 922 630013
38201 San Cristóbal de La Laguna
Opening Times: Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (free entrance) Monday: closed.
Sunday: Free entrance.

The Tenerife Anthropology Museum is devoted to investigating, conserving and disseminating the popular culture of the Canary Islands.

Located in the splendid Carta Mansion, a Canary Island country house of the 18th century, it currently offers a grand exhibition "Food and Culture", showing different aspects of the social and cultural dimensions of food.

The museum places special emphasis on teaching activities, organising workshops throughout the year.

Carretera Tacoronte - Valle de Guerra (Casa de Carta)
Tel: 922 546300 Fax: 922 544498
38270 Valle Guerra (La Laguna)
Opening Times: Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday closed.
Sunday: Free entrance.

The Museum of Science and the Cosmos celebrated its fifth anniversary in May 1998, proving to be a great success with the public right from the beginning.

The museum offers many interactive displays. It is organised into a series of independent modules that provide information on many different scientific aspects. Visitors can take an active part in the process.

Apart from more than one hundred in-house produced scientific modules, the museum also has a planetarium.

The three-story building, designed by Jordi Garcés and Enric Soria has a sober exterior and ample lines.

Exhibitions are organised in five areas: the Sun, the Earth, the Universe, the Human Body and How Does it Work?, with a total of some 70 modules laid out in an elliptic hall like a market square, where a curious visitor can wander around and trip over adventures.

C/ Via Lactea, s/n (near the Canary Island Astrophysics Institute)
Tel: 922 263454 / 922 263494 Fax: 922 263295
38200 San Cristóbal de La Laguna
Opening Times: Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday closed.
Large groups should arrange their visit in advance.
Sunday: Free entrance.

The restored former Dominican convent now houses the museum of Latin American Handicraft.

There are five rooms laid out on two floors, where only part of their extensive stock is on exhibition: musical instruments, textile crafts, ceramics, fibres and popular art.

The museum holds part of the García Cabrejo textile collection, with objects from the 15th century and more than seven thousand pieces of pottery from the Latin American Co-operation Institute. A visit to the museum also enables you to appreciate the beauty of the convent.

C/ Tomás Zerolo, 34, next to the church of Santo Domingo
Tel: 922 321746 Fax: 922 335811
Opening Times: Monday to Friday: from 9.30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday: from 9.30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The museum is situated in a typical house of the area, with a small central patio. Apart from conserving traditional pieces from the Arguayo pottery centre, the museum also makes new pieces using the same techniques and shapes as the originals.

"Cha Domitila Pottery Museum and Workshop"
Carretera General de Arguayo, 35
Tel: 922 863465

Opening Times: Tuesday to Sunday:
Mornings: from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Afternoons: from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Free entrance.