Stone basins · running water · La Orotava
The stone washing troughs
The original basins still standing, with their spouts over the stone. Here the laundry was washed by hand before water reached the houses.
They are part of the garden walk, beside the large clay water jars.
The story
The washing trough was work and conversation in equal measure. The women of the hamlet came down with the laundry, scrubbed it on the sloping stone of the basin and rinsed it in the running water while they shared the news of the valley.
On an island water is never to spare: in northern Tenerife it came from galleries dug into the mountain and was distributed through irrigation channels. To have your own troughs with running spouts was to have that scarce resource close at hand.
In the Canary Islands irrigation water has always been shared out in turns measured by the hour, because every drop counted.
In detail
The other features of the park
Seven pieces of Canary Island craft, inside the garden.
The century-old wine press
The traditional wine press still keeps its century-old vault of sandstone brick, the wooden barrels and the bottles stacked in an arch. Outside, the old beam press rests beneath its roof.
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The hay barn
Built of dry volcanic stone, with its green door and a thatched roof. The Cabildo of Tenerife has it listed as an ethnographic heritage site.
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The threshing floor
A ring of open lawn between walls of volcanic stone and Canary Island pines. On this ground the harvest grain was once threshed.
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The carved wooden trough
A trough carved from a single hollowed-out log, resting against the stone wall with a couple of clay jars beside it.
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The hand water pump
A cast-iron lever pump, mounted over the old well and surrounded by clay water jars.
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The petanque court
A court carved out among Canary Island pines, with firm earth underfoot and shade that settles in by the late afternoon.
View the featureWander the park during your stay.
The the stone washing troughs and the other features are yours to explore freely when you stay in one of the houses on the estate, in La Orotava.