Bien de Interés Cultural, with the category of Historic Site, 2005.
The origins of this settlement go back to the 1500s, to the existence of a small village or Guanche family that lived in the area and took refuge in caves. Their descendants, who were probably married to the first “foreigners” to arrive on the island, were the owners of the first houses, which were built mainly using the stones that were closest to hand: the so-called tosca blanca and piedra chasnera (mid-16th century).
The hamlet of Icor (a place name of Amazigh origin, derived from the term “Icore” which means “fig tree grove”), began to appear as such and in a somewhat anarchic form from that time onwards, housing a group of families dedicated to the cultivation of wheat, vines and fruit trees, and to the raising of goats and sheep.
In general, the buildings, of one or two storeys, were built in stone, tea and clay, based on a large courtyard surrounded by the living quarters or with an “L” shaped plan to protect them from the prevailing winds (NE) and the breezes from the north. In the cases of certain prestige where there was an upper floor, this was reserved for the granary, which was accessed by a stone staircase without a handrail that ended in a rustic and primitive balcony. The doors and windows always faced towards the east, and the roofs, with one, two or four slopes, were covered on the outside with Arabic tiles, sometimes with lime plaster.
Around 1778, it is known that it had only a few buildings with about 20 people living in them. Throughout the 19th century, 11 houses and 36 inhabitants were recorded: 5 two-storey houses, 3 terraced houses and 3 more humble ones. At the end of the 20th century, the municipal census reports 71 inhabitants, a figure that was also affected by the significant depopulation suffered from the 1940s onwards.
Its history, the high state of conservation of the elements of its traditional Canarian rural architecture and its high ethnographic value, led to the hamlet being declared an Asset of Cultural Interest with the category of Historic Site in 2005. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
