The Herques or Erques ravine is a ravine located between the municipalities of Güímar and Fasnia, forming the boundary between the two municipalities, a natural feature that divides territories of great environmental value, as the area is included in the Canary Islands Network of Protected Natural Spaces in the category of Natural Monument.
Herques is a term of Guanche origin, and is related by researchers to words such as ‘eres’ – a Guanche word for a type of well – or ‘erkah’, a Berber word meaning ‘relief of dark-coloured rocky terrain’.
The ravine rises at an altitude of 2,329 metres in the island’s Dorsal Mountain Range, at the summit of Izaña, and flows into the sea at Callao de Herques after almost fifteen kilometres. The ravine crosses the layers and materials of the different volcanic episodes that took place in the formation of the island, where basalts and pumiceous tuffs stand out among the lava flows and in the upper part of the escarpment.
Traditionally, the Barranco de Herques ravine has been considered to mark the boundary between the aboriginal kingdoms of Güímar and Abona. It is a place with important archaeological sites, including the discovery in 1770 of a necropolis with hundreds of mummies and human remains, known as the ‘Cueva de las Mil Momias’ (Cave of a Thousand Mummies), visited and described by José de Viera y Clavijo. A clay idol known as Guatimac was also found in 1885. This area has a remarkable singular landscape, with a great variety of habitats and a good representation of rock plants and endemic species.
