Come visit El Hierro Island on the Canary Islands
El Hierro Island often called “Meridian Island” the residential population is just under 12,000 on this Canary Island in Spain. amazing landscapes and clear signs of its active volcanic past🏝️
El Hierro – a paradise in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
The island of El Hierro is the youngest, smallest, most western and most southern of the Canary Islands.
It was declared a World Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 2000 and a Geopark in 2014.
An island with barely 10,000 inhabitants, making it also the least populated of the Canary Islands.
The island of El Hierro is also known in Spanish as the “Meridian Island” because it was considered the westernmost point of the known world for many centuries.
The astronomer and astrologist Ptolemy was attributed with having located the prime meridian at Punta de Orchilla, until it was moved to its current location of Greenwhich in 1884.
El Hierro Island
The island of El Hierro is all sharp, rocky cliffs hiding natural pools and ponds.
The black volcanic earth that covers it increases the sensation of mysterious remoteness, of being the edge of civilisation – which it was until the discovery of America.
This geographical location, this orography and this sparse population make the island of El Hierro a magical place.
A unique journey – ideal for finding yourself. More info: https://elhierro.travel/en/
El Hierro, Canary Island – Spain
Worth a look at.
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El Hierro Island
History of El Hierro Island from Spanish Holidays Canary Islands
The name of the island is derived from the Guanche language toponym Hero, which by the process of folk-etymology was transformed into “Hierro,” meaning “iron” in Spanish, due to its similarity to that word.
Thus, Ferro (Latin ferrum, “iron”) was and is used as an alternative name for the island.
Most likely “hero” is the original name of what we to-day call a “cistern”, due to the way the bimbaches saved water from trees.
It is the name for the island in other languages, including French, German, and Danish.
Pliny the Elder, who used Juba II as his source, names a series of Canary Islands, and it is believed that his Capraria may have been Hierro.
The ancient natives of the island, called bimbaches, were conquered by Jean de Béthencourt -more through the process of negotiation than by military action.
Béthencourt had as his ally and negotiator Augeron, brother of the island’s native monarch.
Augeron had been captured years previously by the Europeans and now served as mediator between the Europeans and the Guanches.
In return for control over the island, Béthencourt promised to respect the liberty of the natives, but he eventually broke his promise, selling many of the bimbaches into slavery.
Many Frenchmen and Galicians subsequently settled on the island. There was a revolt of the natives against the harsh treatment of the governor Lázaro Vizcaíno, but it was suppressed.
El Hierro Island
Spain Info El Hierro Island Part optimised March 21 w89 Aug 14 Oct 22 414927 Feb 16 El Hierro Island 26 May 18 Jan 16 P 93 H 77 FK 100 F El Hierro Island
Re vamp Aug 28 2024 hotels taken off plus nature
Urb Marina, San Fulgencio, 03177, Alicante, Spain
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