Back in Time: Ruinas de Gordejuela

Casa Hamilton "El Elevador de Aguas de Gordejuela" is an industrial ruin and was built in 1903 as a pump house and residence on the Canary Island of Tenerife. This house is located below Romantica I, a district of Los Realejos in the north of the island. From there, brick water pipes run steeply up the slope. The House was built by a trading company called Hamilton, for this reason it is also called Casa Hamilton.

Originally, the lower part of the building complex housed a water pumping station. The two upper floors were used as living quarters for the machinist and his family. The first steam engine of Tenerife was operated in this building. The water was pumped to the various former banana plantations in the Orotava Valley. Thus, the valuable fresh water from the springs of Gordejuela could be used for agriculture. It is also said that a small flour mill was also operated with it.

The House where the steam engine was once located stands above Casa Hamilton and was connected to it by a serpentine staircase with about 175 steps. It had a 43-meter-high chimney, but it is no longer there today.