The thousand-year-old dragon tree
Icod de los Vinos & the Drago Milenario
A botanical landmark and a charming old town in the green north.
Icod de los Vinos in the north is famous for a single tree, but what a tree: the Drago Milenario is considered the oldest and largest dragon tree in the world. Around it lies a pretty old town whose wine tradition is already in the name.
The Drago Milenario
At an estimated several hundred years old, though legend makes it a full thousand, the dragon tree lifts its umbrella-shaped crown a good 18 metres into the air. Dragon trees are botanical oddities: they form no annual rings, and their reddish sap was once traded as “dragon’s blood” and used as a remedy. You can see it for free from the plaza; the adjacent park brings you closer.
The old town and the wine
Behind the tree it is worth strolling through the cobbled lanes with their mansions and wooden balconies. “de los Vinos”, of the wines, is no accident: the surrounding slopes have borne vines for centuries, and in the bodegas you can taste the malvasía-flavoured drop. If you prefer it sweeter, try the local pastries in one of the confiterías. Above the rooftops, on a clear day, towers the snow-capped Teide.
Nearby: Garachico
Just a few minutes further lies Garachico, once the island’s most important harbour, until a lava flow buried it in 1706. Today you can bathe in the natural rock pools that this very lava flow shaped, a rewarding stop.
Frequently asked questions
How old is the Drago Milenario really?
The name promises a thousand years; experts estimate more cautiously at several hundred. Since dragon trees form no annual rings, the age cannot be determined exactly, impressive it is in any case.
Is there an entrance fee for the dragon tree?
From the church square you can see and photograph it for free. If you want to enter the adjacent Drago park, you pay a small fee and get closer in return.
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Your base camp for all of it
The house sits centrally in the sunny south-west — most destinations are less than an hour away.