Culture
Castillo de Mata, Museum of the City and the Sea, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Foto: Beta15 · CC BY-SA 4.0
📍 Las Palmas de Gran Canaria·~7.3 km from Santa Catalina

🏰 Castillo de Mata – Museo de la Ciudad y del Mar

The history of Las Palmas told inside a 16th-century fortress.

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Key facts

~7.3

kilometres · from Santa Catalina

~10

minutes

Approx. by road from Parque Santa Catalina, without traffic: actual time depends on traffic and the pickup point.

Suggested visit: 45–75 minutes

Museum · Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

Official website: lpacultura.com

Opening hours, closing days and tickets change: check them on the official website before you go.

The Castillo de Mata is a fortress completed in 1577 to a design by the engineer Juan Alonso Rubián. It was rebuilt after the attack by Van der Does in 1599 and remained in military use until 1997.

Today it is the Museo de la Ciudad y del Mar (Museum of the City and the Sea): its rooms tell the history of the city since the 15th century, and a 2002 excavation uncovered the fortress's original round turret (cubelo), which can also be visited.

What to see

  • The navigators' view
  • The birth of the city
  • The 19th-century city and the contemporary city
  • The fortress's original round turret (cubelo)

Location

Calle Domingo Guerra del Río 147 (Carretera de Mata), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

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Excursions that include this place

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