Teide, or Mount Teide, (Spanish: El Teide, Pico del Teide, pronounced [ˈpiko ðel ˈtejðe], "Teide Peak") is often a volcano on Tenerife within the Canary Islands, Spain. Its summit (at three,715 m (twelve,188 ft))[one][a] is the very best place in Spain and the highest point previously mentioned sea level while in the islands of the Atlantic.

If measured from the ocean floor, its height of 7,500 m (24,600 ft) would make Teide the fourth-best volcano on earth,[b] and it is described by UNESCO and NASA as Earth's third-tallest volcanic construction.[eight][nine][c] On the other hand, as Teide was fashioned just one hundred seventy,000 decades ago as a consequence of volcanic action pursuing a catastrophic landslide, Teide's base is actually positioned within the Las Cañadas crater (the stays of an more mature, eroded, extinct volcano) at a height of around two,one hundred ninety m (7,one hundred ninety ft) higher than sea stage. Teide's elevation above sea stage makes Tenerife the tenth greatest island on the globe. Teide can be an Lively volcano: its most recent eruption happened in 1909 from the El Chinyero vent about the northwestern Santiago rift. The United Nations Committee for Disaster Mitigation designated Teide a Decade Volcano[10] because of its heritage of harmful eruptions and its proximity to quite a few big cities, of which the closest are Garachico, Icod de los Vinos and Puerto de la Cruz. Teide, Pico Viejo and Montaña Blanca variety the Central Volcanic Sophisticated of Tenerife.

The volcano and its environment comprise Teide Countrywide Park, that has a region of eighteen,900 hectares (47,000 acres) and was named a Globe Heritage Web site by UNESCO in 2007.[8] Teide is easily the most frequented pure ponder of Spain, quite possibly the most visited countrywide park in Spain and Europe and – by 2015 – the eighth most visited on the planet,[11] with some 3 million website visitors yearly.[12] In 2016, it was frequented by four,079,823 people and travellers, achieving a historic record.[13][14] Teide Observatory, A significant Worldwide astronomical observatory, is located on the slopes with the mountain.

Ahead of the 1496 Spanish colonization of Tenerife, the indigenous Guanches referred to a strong figure living in the volcano, which carries mild, electrical power as well as sun. El Pico del Teide is the fashionable Spanish identify.[15]

Teide was a sacred mountain for the aboriginal Guanches, so it was regarded a mythological mountain, as Mount Olympus was to the ancient Greeks. According to legend, Guayota (the Satan) kidnapped Magec (the god of light plus the sun) and imprisoned him In the volcano, plunging the entire world into darkness. The Guanches requested their supreme god Achamán for clemency, so Achamán fought Guayota, freed Magec through the bowels from the mountain, and plugged the crater with Guayota. It is claimed that considering that then, Guayota has remained locked within Teide. When happening to Teide through an eruption, it had been customary for your Guanches to mild bonfires to scare Guayota. Guayota is frequently represented being a black Pet dog, accompanied by his host of demons (Tibicenas).

The Guanches also believed that Teide held up the sky. Quite a few hiding sites present in the mountains comprise the stays of stone tools and pottery. These have been interpreted as being ritual deposits to counter the affect of evil spirits, like Those people produced by the Berbers of Kabylie. The Guanches believed the mountain to become the position that housed the forces of evil and by far the most evil figure, Guayota.[sixteen]

Guayota shares features much like other powerful deities inhabiting volcanoes, including the goddess Pele of Hawaiian mythology, who lives from the volcano Kīlauea and is particularly regarded with the indigenous Hawaiians as chargeable for the eruptions from the volcano.[17] Precisely the same was correct for The traditional Greeks and Romans, who believed that Vulcano and Mount Etna were being chimneys of your foundry of the fireplace god Hephaestus (Vulcan in Latin).

In 1492, when Christopher Columbus arrived in the island of Tenerife, his crew claimed to determine flames coming from the highest mountain from the island (Teide).

Teide previous erupted in 1909 from your El Chinyero vent,[23] to the Santiago Ridge. Historic volcanic exercise around the island is associated with vents over the Santiago or northwest rift (Boca Cangrejo in 1492, Montañas Negras in 1706,[23] Narices del Teide or Chahorra in 1798, and El Chinyero in 1909) plus the Cordillera Dorsal or northeast rift (Fasnia in 1704, Siete Fuentes and Arafo in 1705). The 1706 Montañas Negras eruption destroyed the city and principal port of Garachico, along with a number of scaled-down villages.[15]

Historical activity linked to the Teide and Pico Viejo stratovolcanoes [23] transpired in 1798 with the Narices del Teide around the western flank of Pico Viejo. Eruptive substance from Pico Viejo, Montaña Teide and Montaña Blanca partially fills the Las Cañadas caldera.[22] The final explosive eruption involving the central volcanic centre was from Montaña Blanca all around 2000 yrs back. The last eruption throughout the Las Cañadas caldera occurred in 1798 from the Narices del Teide or Chahorra (Teide's Nostrils) around the western flank of Pico Viejo. The eruption was predominantly strombolian in style and most of the lava was ʻaʻā. This lava is noticeable beside the Vilaflor–Chio road.

Christopher Columbus documented seeing "an excellent fire from the Orotava Valley" as he sailed past Tenerife on his voyage to find the New Earth in 1492. This was interpreted as indicating that he experienced witnessed an eruption there. Radiometric relationship of doable lavas signifies that in 1492 no eruption transpired within the Orotava Valley, but one particular did manifest from your Boca Cangrejo vent.[23]

The last summit eruption from Teide happened regarding the 12 months 850 AD, which eruption made the "Lavas Negras" or "Black Lavas" that deal with A lot in the flanks of your volcano.[23]

About one hundred fifty,000 a long time ago, a much larger explosive eruption occurred, likely of Volcanic Explosivity Index 5. It developed the Las Cañadas caldera, a large caldera at about 2,000 m above sea level, all- around 16 km (nine.9 mi) from east to west and 9 km (five.6 mi) from north to south. At Guajara, on the south aspect in the framework, the internal partitions increase as Pretty much sheer cliffs from 2,100 to two,715 m (six,890 to eight,907 ft). The 3,715 m (12,188 ft) summit of Teide itself, and its sister stratovolcano Pico Viejo (three,134 m (ten,282 ft)), are the two situated while in the northern half of the caldera and they are derived from eruptions later on than this prehistoric explosion.

Upcoming eruptions may possibly contain pyroclastic flows and surges just like people who happened at Mount Pelée, Merapi, Vesuvius, Etna, the Soufrière Hills, Mount Unzen and somewhere else. All through 2003, there was a rise in seismic action on the volcano along with a rift opened to the north-east flank. No eruptive exercise transpired but a quantity of material, maybe liquid, was emplaced in to the edifice and is estimated to have a volume of ~1011 m3.[citation wanted] Such activity can show that magma is climbing in the edifice, but is just not generally a precursor to an eruption.[15]

Teide Furthermore is considered structurally unstable and its northern flank has a distinctive bulge.[citation desired] The summit from the volcano has numerous modest active fumaroles emitting sulfur dioxide along with other gases, including small amounts of hydrogen sulfide.

A scientific evaluation in 2006, posted from the journal Eos, noticed that "in past times thirty,000 several years, eruptions have occurred in a amount of only four to 6 for each millennium, that has a predominance (70%) of really minimal hazard, basaltic eruptions".[36] The authors even more commented that "the the latest eruptive document, combined with the offered petrological and radiometric details, delivers a fairly optimistic outlook on big volcanic dangers related to Teide and its rift zones, posing only incredibly localized threats for the a million inhabitants of Tenerife plus the 4.5 million yearly readers to Teide National Park." Nevertheless, Yet another review in 2009 concluded that Teide will most likely erupt violently in the future, Which its framework is analogous to that of Vesuvius and Etna.[37] Thus the magnitude of the danger posed by Teide to the general public stays a supply of debate.

The volcano and its environment, such as el teide the total with the Las Cañadas caldera, are shielded in the Teide National Park. Accessibility is by a public road managing from northeast to southwest through the caldera. TITSA operates a return company to Teide at the time a day from each Puerto de la Cruz and Playa de las Americas. The park provides a parador (lodge) and a small chapel. A cable vehicle goes in the roadside at 2,356 m (7,730 ft) the majority of the way to the summit, reaching 3,555 m (11,663 ft), carrying as much as 38 passengers (34 in the superior wind) and using eight minutes to reach the summit.[63] Use of the summit by itself is limited; a no cost allow is needed to climb the final 200 m (660 ft). Numbers are Generally limited to two hundred on a daily basis.[citation required] Quite a few footpaths acquire hikers for the higher cable automobile terminal, then on to the summit.

Mount Teide from a length that has a cloud at the top due to altitude, the air is appreciably thinner than at sea level. This can cause people today (Specially with coronary heart or lung disorders) to be gentle-headed or dizzy, to develop altitude sickness,[sixty four] As well as in Intense scenarios to get rid of consciousness. The only real treatment is always to return to reduced altitudes and acclimatise.

Teide is the primary symbol of Tenerife and quite possibly the most emblematic all-natural monument with the Canary Islands. A picture of Teide, gushing flames, appears for the centre of Tenerife's coat of arms. Previously mentioned the volcano seems St. Michael, the patron saint of Tenerife. The flag colors with the island are dark blue, ordinarily discovered Along with the sea that surrounds the island, and white to the whiteness from the snow-covered peaks of Mount Teide during winter. The brand of the Cabildo de Tenerife (governing human body with the island) features a image of Teide in eruption.

Teide has actually been depicted commonly throughout heritage, from your earliest engravings created by European conquerors to standard Canarian craft objects, over the back again of a thousand-peseta notes, in oil paintings and on postcards.

During the Canary Islands, Specifically on Tenerife, Teide has cultural symbolism deeply rooted in traditions and historical past. It's commonly known as Padre Teide (Father Teide)