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Volcanic formations
Wherever you are in the Canaries, you can be in no doubt that you are visiting islands of volcanic origin.
The rock configurations are formed by the type of eruption that created them and then sculpted by time and erosion. One of the most instantly recognisable of the formations are the roques or pitones and the fortresses – phonolitic structures which can dominate the landscape. Of the former, in Gran Canaria, Roque Nublo is a well known landmark, Roque Cano dominates the valley in Vallehermoso, La Gomera and in the Cañadas del Teide, the Cathedral stands proud in the Llano de Ucanca, whilst the fortress of Chipude in La Gomera and that which can be seen from the northern coast alongside Teide are equally well known.
They are formed by magma which follows a fault-line in the rock and becomes compressed below the surface. As time goes by the rock on the outside is worn away leaving the hard core of the compressed rock open to view in all their distinctive shapes.
Look around, you will be sure to spot a piton or a fortress in the area near your home or hotel.
|  | | The Cathedral - the typical domed shape of the pitón has been fractured and eroded |
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