Lime Kilns Interpretation Center
The Lime Kilns Interpretation Center is located in the neighborhood of El Charco, in Puerto del Rosario, and is one of the most unique heritage spaces of the capital of Fuerteventura. This rehabilitated infrastructure, municipally owned, born with a dual purpose: to recover and revitalize a historic area of the city and put in value one of the most important traditional industries in the economic and social history of Fuerteventura.
The center pays tribute to the old activity linked to the manufacture of lime and plaster in the area known as Puerto de la Cal (Port of Lime), the name by which this port enclave of Puerto de Cabras was identified for decades. It is an industry of undoubted historical and ethnographic value, whose importance was especially notable in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when lime became an essential product for construction, hygiene and island commerce.
History and origin
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, lime production was a key activity for the development of Fuerteventura. The kilns were strategically located next to the old port, facilitating both the arrival of limestone and the subsequent export of the processed product. The process consisted of firing the stone at high temperatures in traditional kilns, obtaining quicklime, used in architecture, whitewashing of houses, public infrastructures and other fundamental uses in the daily life of the island.
The building that today houses the Interpretation Center has been carefully restored, integrating the original industrial architecture into a contemporary cultural space. This intervention has made it possible to preserve the memory of the productive activity and, at the same time, to incorporate the complex into the current urban fabric, making it a meeting place between past and present.
What to see and do
The Interpretation Center offers an exhibition tour that explains in a clear and didactic way the whole process of lime production: from the extraction of the raw material, firing in kilns, transport and export, to its direct impact on the economy, architecture and landscape of Fuerteventura.
Visitors can take a close look at the restored original ovens, understanding how they work and the working conditions of those who carried out this activity for generations. The space is completed with temporary exhibitions, audiovisual projections and educational workshops, designed to bring this industrial heritage to audiences of all ages.
After its reopening, the center also houses the tourist office of the municipality, becoming a doubly relevant point of reference: as a cultural space and as a place of information for those who wish to discover Puerto del Rosario and its surroundings.
Why visit it?
Visiting the Interpretation Center of the Lime Kilns allows you to delve into a little known but fundamental chapter in the history of Fuerteventura. It is an opportunity to understand how the relationship between rock, fire and human work shaped the landscape, economy and daily life of the island. A different, authentic and enriching stop, which provides historical and cultural context to any tour of Puerto del Rosario.
