César Manrique designed the "Mirador del Río" in 1973, together with Jesus Soto and the architech Eduardo Caceres, which was considered at the time an architechtural work of great value and Interest. This work was not easy. Although the building is apparently excavated on the rock, the truth is that it is covered by it, in a way of covering and integrating it into the enviroment, respecting Manrique's philosophy.
To the North of the island, 600 metres of height right in front of the Famara cliff, one can see the immensity of the Atlantic Ocean, stiched by the island "LA GRACIOSA" and the group of islets Alegranza, Montaña Clara, Roques Del Este and Oeste, which have been declared Seacoast Reserve. A privileged spot to admire this spectacular view is "Mirador del Río" a small glass and rock building perfectly integrated on the side of a volcano. In front of the mirador, the views to the sea arm that separates Lanzarote and the eighth islands, named el Río (The river), are excellent, as well as the views to the High Cliffs of "Famara" or "Las Salinas", which are abandoned nowaday. According to history, it was here and during the Cuban war when a battery was installed at the end of last century.
The mirador offers a great variety of spots to observe the landscape due to its large circular window inside the building overlooking the sea; from the interior corridor that surrounds the building and from the upper terrace that crowns it. The accesss is through a spiral staircase with rubble work and wooden steps. The inside of the building is another attraction of this tourist centre. The access has a form of labyrinth because César Manrique was very fond of them as he could surprise the visitors with the magnificent spectacle of an open and impressive sea. From the ceiling hang two sculptures with an inverted bulb shape made with metal ribs twisted in spiral and bends that end in fine plates of the same metal.
The beauty of the Mirador is in its apparent simplicity, in the use of circular, curve or elliptical shapes, that hide a great technical complexity. César Manrique built two other miradors in "La Gomera" and "El Hierro" and the three of them are considered perfect architectural works
