Museo del Grano La Cilla
Museum of Fuerteventura's farming culture in the island's only surviving cilla (tithe barn), a former tithe store, in La Oliva.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
A cilla was the building where the part of the harvest that each farmer handed over to the Church as tithe was stored. Fuerteventura once had several, but the one in La Oliva is the only one that has survived to the present day. It was built from 1819 in the traditional Majorero style, with stone, clay, lime, sand and wood, on a rectangular plan under a pitched tile roof. Some materials from the former cilla of Tindaya were partly reused in its construction.
With the disentailment (desamortización) of 1836, church property passed to the State, and a year later the tithe ceased to be a civil obligation, so the building lost its original function. It was later acquired and restored by the Cabildo de Fuerteventura, which turned it into a museum in 1997.
The exhibition is devoted to traditional agriculture, the island's dominant economic activity from the conquest until the mid-20th century. It brings together recovered farm implements, texts and photographs, and panels explaining the cereal cycle, from preparing the land to threshing on the threshing floor (era), as well as the techniques for harvesting runoff water using gavias, nateros and arenados (traditional water-harvesting systems). The complex also includes a house and a threshing floor. The museum has its own website with visiting guides in several languages, a glossary of local terms and teaching materials.
Highlights
- The only surviving cilla in Fuerteventura
- Farm implements, texts and photographs on cereal growing
- Panels on gavias, nateros and arenados
- House and threshing floor
- Visiting guide available as a download in five languages
Permanent exhibition
- La agricultura tradicional de Fuerteventura – Farm implements, texts and photographs showing the cereal cycle and the island's farming techniques, from sowing to threshing and storage.
- Founded
- 1997
- Operated by
- Cabildo de Fuerteventura
Admission & discounts
| Adults | €1.50 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | €0.75Residents |
| Children & teens | freeFree admission for children; the website does not state an age limit. |
| Groups | €1.15 per personPer-person rate for groups. |
Tickets can also be bought online.
Accessibility
The museum hasn’t published any information on this.
Kids & families
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Getting there & parking
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Amenities & dining
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Events & venue rental
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Plan your visit
| School programs | yes |
|---|---|
| Good to know | The museum offers downloadable visiting guides in Spanish, English, Italian, French and German. School and association visits are requested through a procedure on the Cabildo's electronic office website. |
