Villa María

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Architecture · Subcategory: Civil architecture · Year: 1921 · Authors: Fernando Navarro

This architectural work of a clearly residential character, located in Tafira Alta, is one of the best examples of the Neo-Mudéjar style, a variant of the historicist language, practised in the Canary Islands. It was designed by the island architect Fernando Navarro and built in 1921.

The building is a chalet with a square plan formed by three parallel bays in the longitudinal direction. It has a façade characterised by a central cubic body flanked by others topped by a frieze of blind arches and a battlemented parapet; typical elements of Caliphal and Nasrid architecture, which are rare in the Canary Islands. Also very distinctive are the paired windows framed by an alfiz and the main entrance defined by a pointed horseshoe arch. 

The main access to the interior of the building is through this central portico, which leads to a hall with a wooden ceiling and Arabic calligraphy; from here you enter a courtyard covered by glass. The magnificent dado of beautiful tiles it has should be highlighted.

Villa María is a clear example of a residential home built under eclectic historicist criteria, intended to house a commercial bourgeoisie with very particular tastes who sought to settle on the outskirts of the city.

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