Vilaflor offers several distinct perspectives on culture and landscape: the parish church of San Pedro Apóstol and the memory of Santo Hermano Pedro, the rural cultural heritage of Casas Altas, named routes and winegrowing. When planning your stay, it is worth distinguishing between the themes by their character: church and pilgrimage history, historic paths and volcanic formations offer different highlights.

Church, Saint and Local History

The parish church of San Pedro Apóstol has been protected as a Bien de Interés Cultural since 1985. Its history goes back to a chapel commissioned by Pedro Soler and Juana de Padilla around 1530. The present church building was completed in the 17th century. Inside the church is a 16th-century baptismal font associated with the baptism of Santo Hermano Pedro. This brings the building’s history and the memory of the saint together in one place.

The Santuario del Santo Hermano Pedro stands on the site of his birthplace. The sanctuary houses a relic in the form of one of the saint’s vertebrae and the bell he used to summon the faithful. The Camino del Hermano Pedro begins at San Pedro Church in Vilaflor and leads to the Cueva del Santo Hermano Pedro. During the saint’s festival in April, hundreds of pilgrims walk this route.

La Casa Inglesa is also part of the history around the church square. The building was constructed in the 19th century beside the cypress trees in the square of San Pedro Apóstol Church. Mary Edwards and the Reverend Thomas Gifford Nash lived there; today it serves as a rectory.

Rural Cultural Heritage and Historic Paths

The historic ensemble of Casas Altas in Jama is protected as a Bien de Interés Cultural and is shared by the municipalities of Vilaflor and Arona. It preserves traditional rural architecture in the south of Tenerife. The ensemble includes, among other features, water channels, cisterns, ovens, paved paths, terraces and caves. These varied elements give an impression of how water, paths and buildings come together in a rural cultural landscape.

Casas Altas also contains groups of cup marks and connecting channels that may be associated with pre-Hispanic culture. A paved path through the ensemble forms part of a historic Camino Real. It connected Vilaflor with the north side of Tenerife and lower-lying areas in the south. La Roseta and El Encaje de Vilaflor are two crafts that continue the local tradition.

Choose Routes by Terrain and Activity

The PR-TF 72 is a circular route that begins and ends in the village square of Vilaflor de Chasna. It is signposted as a Sendero de pequeño recorrido, or short-distance hiking trail. The route’s defining features are its circular layout and its starting and finishing point in the village.

BC-5 Pinares de Vilaflor is a mountain biking and horse-riding route. It passes through a large part of the municipality of Vilaflor and is 13.78 kilometres long. The routes can therefore be compared using different criteria: the PR-TF 72’s circular loop and the BC-5’s designated activities and distance. The Vilaflor–La Florida–Paisaje Lunar route begins at Plaza de la Iglesia de Vilaflor in the town centre. Check the conditions on the respective trails locally before setting out.

Volcanic Landscape and Winegrowing

Paisaje Lunar is a significant geological area where pumice and whitish ash from eruptions millions of years ago are exposed. In Vilaflor, Parque Natural de La Corona Forestal encompasses the oldest pine forest in the Canary Islands. Monumento Natural de Montaña Colorada features a varied volcanic landscape of cones, domes, ravines, ridges and lava fields.

Winegrowing has also shaped Vilaflor’s history. Pedro Soler introduced it around 1531; it continued over the following centuries and carries on today. Vineyards in the municipality reach an altitude of 1,600 metres. They are described as the highest vineyards in Europe.

Discover More Destinations

Discover more destinations: Escalona, Oroteanda Baja, Santiago Del Teide, El Bailadero, Las Mercedes, Puertito de Güímar, Los Realejos, Las Vegas.

For the main travel overview: Tenerife.