Risco Caido and the Sacred Mountains of Gran Canaria Cultural Landscape

Before Europeans reached Gran Canaria, a Berber-descended people had lived in near-total isolation for well over a millennium, carving homes, granaries and cisterns into the cliffs of the island's mountainous heart. Their world survives in troglodyte settlements amid ravines and volcanic crags, crowned by two sacred cave temples — Risco Caído and Roque Bentayga — where ceremonies apparently tied to the stars and Mother Earth marked the seasons. UNESCO inscribed the cultural landscape in 2019.