⛪Church of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios
In the very heart of Yaiza stands the Church of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, one of the village’s most important historic landmarks. Its origins date back to the 17th century, and its simple whitewashed structure fits perfectly with the traditional architecture of Lanzarote. It is also worth stepping inside, where elements of its historic religious furnishings have been preserved.
🏡 Casa de la Cultura Benito Pérez Armas
Not far from the centre stands the former home of Benito Pérez Armas, a writer and politician born in Yaiza. This traditional Canarian building draws attention with its wooden balconies, courtyard and distinctive woodwork. Today, it houses a cultural centre where exhibitions and events are held.
🎨 La Era – César Manrique’s Mark on Yaiza
One of the lesser-known traces of César Manrique in Yaiza is La Era – a former traditional Canarian property that the artist purchased and restored together with Luis Ibáñez. In 1968, a restaurant specialising in Canarian cuisine opened here. Manrique preserved the traditional character of the buildings while adapting them to a new purpose – perfectly reflecting the ideas that would later become a hallmark of his work on Lanzarote.
📸 What to Look Out For
🏘️ Whitewashed houses. Yaiza’s low-rise traditional architecture contrasts beautifully with the surrounding volcanic landscape.
🌺 Greenery and flowers. Palm trees, gardens and colourful plants make Yaiza look remarkably green for southern Lanzarote.
⛪ The village centre. Stop by the Church of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios and the peaceful square nearby.
🌋 Volcanoes. Look beyond the whitewashed houses as well – the dark landscape surrounding Yaiza is a reminder of just how close the eruptions of 1730–1736 came to the village.
❤️ Why Is Yaiza Worth a Stop?
Yaiza does not impress with a single spectacular landmark. Its greatest attraction is the contrast between the peaceful whitewashed village and the stark volcanic landscape. It is well worth stopping here for a short walk – especially after learning the story of the people who lived in the shadow of the Timanfaya eruptions for almost six years.
🚗 How to Explore Yaiza
Yaiza is small, so around 30–60 minutes is enough for a walk around the centre. The best option is to leave your car near the centre and explore the village on foot.
Yaiza can easily be included in a full-day itinerary through the south-western part of Lanzarote, combining it with Timanfaya, La Geria, Salinas de Janubio, Los Hervideros and the Green Lagoon. The detailed order of sightseeing, parking information and GPS coordinates are best left for the guidebook.
✍️ The Man Thanks to Whom We Know This Story
One of the people who witnessed the beginning of the disaster was Andrés Lorenzo Curbelo, the parish priest of Yaiza at the time. His writings became one of the most important accounts of the Timanfaya eruptions. Official Lanzarote tourism materials describe his account as a fundamental chronicle of these events.
Curbelo described the moment when, on 1 September 1730, between nine and ten o’clock in the evening, the ground opened near Timanfaya, about two leguas from Yaiza. In subsequent entries, he recorded the appearance of new eruption sites, the directions in which the lava flowed and the destruction of successive settlements.
Interestingly, he did not witness the entire six years of eruptions. At the end of 1731, he left Lanzarote with some of his parishioners and travelled to Gran Canaria, which is why his first-hand account ends earlier. The version of his writings known today was compiled by him later, in 1744.
His testimony proved valuable not only to historians. In the 19th century, it came to the attention of the German geologist Leopold von Buch, who included the account in his work on the Canary Islands. Curbelo’s original manuscript was later lost, and the text we know today has survived through a complex chain of copies and translations.
🌱 Life After the Disaster
When the eruptions finally came to an end in 1736, the people of Lanzarote had to learn to live in a completely transformed landscape. Some of the former fields and settlements had disappeared beneath the lava, while vast areas were covered by a layer of black volcanic material.
Over time, however, people discovered that what had initially brought devastation could also help them cultivate the land. Lapilli, known on Lanzarote as picón or rofe, reduces water evaporation and retains moisture – an enormous advantage in the island’s extremely dry climate.
The inhabitants therefore began adapting their farming methods to the new conditions. The most remarkable result of this transformation can be seen near Yaiza, in La Geria, where vines still grow today in hollows dug into the layer of volcanic material.
In this way, the landscape that had taken away people’s homes and fields eventually became the foundation of an entirely new way of farming on Lanzarote.
🏘️ Yaiza Today – Whitewashed Houses on the Edge of a Volcanic Land
It is hard to believe that a village which once stood so close to a volcanic disaster is today one of the most peaceful and well-kept places on Lanzarote. Whitewashed houses, green shutters and doors, palm trees and colourful flowers create a striking contrast with the dark volcanic landscape surrounding Yaiza.
The village has preserved the character of traditional Lanzarote architecture – low, whitewashed buildings line its quiet streets, while small squares and the Church of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios form the heart of the village. There are no spectacular attractions here that you simply have to “tick off” your list. The greatest pleasure is simply taking a short stroll.
It is worth remembering what lies just a few kilometres away. The black lava fields of Timanfaya begin almost on Yaiza’s doorstep. This contrast between the peaceful whitewashed village and the stark landscape surrounding it is one of the most distinctive sights on Lanzarote.
Once you know the story of the eruptions, Yaiza looks completely different. It is not just a pretty Canarian village, but a place that survived one of the greatest disasters in the island’s history and learned to live in the landscape it left behind.
Yaiza – The Whitewashed Village That Survived the Timanfaya Eruptions
Today, Yaiza enchants visitors with its whitewashed houses, greenery and peaceful atmosphere – a striking contrast to the dramatic events that unfolded here almost 300 years ago. When the great Timanfaya eruptions began in 1730, this small village found itself on the edge of a newly forming volcanic landscape.
📖 Find out more…
In the guidebook Lanzarote with César Manrique, Yaiza is one of the stops on a journey through the volcanic south of the island. You will discover not only its remarkable history, but also the places worth seeing as you explore the village on foot.
🌋 Six Years of Living in the Shadow of Volcanoes
On 1 September 1730, life for the people of southern Lanzarote changed forever. Near Timanfaya, the ground split open, releasing fire, lava and volcanic material from deep within the earth. No one could have known then that this was only the beginning of a disaster that, with periods of relative calm, would continue for almost six years.
Yaiza found itself dangerously close to the erupting area. Over the following months, its inhabitants watched as lava covered farmland, destroyed homes and swallowed entire nearby settlements. The landscape they had known for generations disappeared beneath layers of lava and volcanic material.
Perhaps the hardest part was the uncertainty. The eruptions did not end after a few days or even a few months. Volcanic activity shifted from place to place, new fissures opened and new cones formed. The inhabitants had no way of knowing where the next threat would emerge or whether their own homes would remain safe.
Over time, the struggle for survival came to mean more than simply escaping the lava. Water and food became increasingly difficult to obtain, ash and volcanic fumes made everyday life harder, and more and more families lost the land that had once provided their livelihood. Some people began to leave the areas under threat, while others even decided to flee Lanzarote altogether.
And still, the volcanoes did not fall silent.
Yaiza survived, but for six years its inhabitants lived on the edge of a world that was changing beyond recognition before their eyes. Today, the black lava fields beginning not far from the village’s whitewashed houses form one of Lanzarote’s most beautiful landscapes. For the people who lived here in the 18th century, however, they were above all a reminder of lost homes, farmland and a way of life that had disappeared.
💧 When Water Began to Run Short
Water was extremely precious on Lanzarote even before the eruptions began. There were no rivers, and the islanders depended mainly on rainwater collected in cisterns, as well as a small number of springs and wells.
The eruptions made the situation even worse. Volcanic material buried areas and structures used to collect and channel water, while some of the available wells around Yaiza produced brackish, poor-quality water. Finding enough water for both people and animals became one of the most pressing problems of everyday life.
🌾 When Food Began to Run Short
The lava destroyed not only homes, but also the farmland and pastures on which the inhabitants depended for their livelihood. As the eruptions continued, crops, fertile land and grazing areas for livestock gradually disappeared.
For many families, this meant losing everything at once – their home, their land, their source of income and their food supply. The question was no longer simply whether the lava would reach their village, but what they would feed their family the next day.
🌫️ Ash, Gases and Air That Was Difficult to Breathe
Life was also made difficult by the dust, ash and gases released during the eruptions. Historical accounts describe periods when the volcanic fumes were so intense that they affected not only people but animals as well.
There is even an account concerning Bishop Pedro Dávila y Cárdenas, who stayed in Yaiza in 1733 but is said to have left the village because the dust and sand made it difficult for him to breathe.
🏚️ When the Lava Reached Yaiza
For three years, the people of Yaiza watched the disaster unfold around them. Eventually, the threat reached their village as well.
On 26 September 1733, lava reached Yaiza and destroyed five houses. Three years had already passed since the eruptions began, and the inhabitants still had no way of knowing that the volcanoes would remain active for several more years.
🚢 Stay or Flee?
Not everyone chose to wait. People left the devastated areas and moved to safer parts of Lanzarote, while some fled to the neighbouring island of Fuerteventura.
The scale of the exodus was already significant in the early months of the disaster. By 30 November 1730, 363 people from Lanzarote had been recorded as arriving on Fuerteventura, bringing with them the animals and supplies they had managed to save.
For many families, the choice must have been a painful one: stay with their land and possessions, or leave everything behind and seek safety beyond Lanzarote?