Garden of the Marquesado de la Quinta Roja

You’re now in the heart of the gardens of the Marquesado de la Quinta Roja, also known as the Victoria Gardens. They were created in the 19th century on what was once a fruit tree plantation owned by the Marquis de la Quinta Roja, who lived nearby. The story behind these gardens is deeply personal. In April 1880, the Marquis’s son, Diego Ponte del Castillo, passed away. Because he was a Freemason, the local bishop refused to allow his burial in the family vault, forcing the family to lay him to rest in a separate part of the cemetery reserved for non-Catholics. Grieving and outraged, the marquise commissioned a French landscape architect to design a grand terraced garden filled with Masonic symbols — most of which have since disappeared — and crowned it with a marble mausoleum imported from Lyon to house her son’s remains. In the end, Diego was eventually allowed to join the family vault, but the mausoleum was never removed. It still stands at the very top of the garden’s seven cascading terraces, like a quiet act of defiance. From up there, you get a stunning view of the Orotava Valley, the slopes of the volcano, and the ocean beyond.