Agustín del Castillo Square

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Literature · Subcategory: Literary street map

Pedro Agustín del Castillo (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 1669-1741) was a member of a wealthy and influential family of the Gran Canaria elite. Of encyclopaedic culture, a distinguished historian and mathematician, he held important positions such as alférez mayor, senior councillor and internal corregidor in 1701 and 1733. His temperate personality made him an indispensable figure in government affairs. At only 18 years old, he wrote and drew for the Captain General a Description of the Canary Islands and a history of the Islands which he completed in 1737.

Pedro Agustín del Castillo also stood out in the study of the Canarian aborigines, with innovative contributions and historiographical conceptions. His prose, clear and elegant in style, together with his innate analytical ability, foreshadow the enlightened and encyclopaedic vision that Viera would later fully manifest.

«Gáldar. Running along the same coast of the sea towards the east, two leagues from Agaete, is this place. And although it cannot boast a large population, as it only has three hundred and sixty neighbours, it can boast antiquity and having been the court of its ancient “Guadarthemes” or kings of this Island, maintaining its memories with the house where he held his audiences.»

(Historical and geographical description of the Canary Islands)

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