Cesar Manrique house museum, not to be confused with Cesar Manrique Foundation. This is the place where Cesar Manrique lived up until his tragic death in 1992. And what is amazing and sad at the same time is that his house is left just as it was. It is eery and fascinating at the same time. This is also the first time in 3 years where I felt that I might want to settle down someday! 

Cesar Manrique house museum

This place is so calm and so peaceful that the visitors automatically starts to whisper amongst themselves while talking to each other at the Cesar Manrique house museum. It is like he was just here like he just left to get something and will be back soon. “Strangers in the night”  by Frank Sinatra is coming from the loudspeakers. The music is here – alive. But at the same time, it’s not to loud. No, it’s just perfect.

This place is not as cool as the Cesar Manrique Foundation but that’s also what makes this place so special. If it was the same, there would not be a need to visit them both. And there is a need to see both of these places. While the foundation is a cool and hip place, the house museum in Haria is filled with warmth and love. It is all in the walls. You can feel the love that has been shared in the different rooms.

Cesar Manriques bedroom in Haria

Inside Manriques bedroom the feeling of sadness strikes me. His slippers are still left on the floor, right next to his bed. Over his bed, there is one of his own paintings and I can’t help but feel sad. I didn’t know him. I had never even heard of Cesar Manrique before coming to Lanzarote. We have spent a few weeks in Lanzarote and I have learned a lot about this man. We have visited all of his attractions on the island and at this point, I feel like I knew him.

One day he was here, went out of bed and left his slippers. After that, he was not here anymore. It is a really special feeling being here. In another room, there are heads that are scary and incredible at the same time. It has been said that Cesar Manrique was a “simple” man. Yes, a simple man with gold bananas on his table.

Cesar Manriques house feels “earthy”

Usually, photography here is forbidden (Mini had a permit to take pictures) and we are so happy that we can share some of the pictures with you guys because this place is really something else. This is the place where I, for the first time in three years, felt like this would be a place where I could settle down. Don’t get me wrong, I’m in no way thinking of abandoning our life, living full time in a motorhome. But this place made me want a place of our own – a place where we can fill with our stuff.

When you live in a motorhome, collecting stuff is very hard. While in the Cesar Manrique house museum, I wanted a place to fill up with personal stuff. This feeling has since then passed, but it shows how powerful this place is! When the day comes and Mini and I want to settle down, I will look at pictures taken in this house and look for something similar. An earthy place where you can feel the love!

Cesar Manrique video playing

For anyone that is not in a hurry – make sure to watch the documentary about Cesar Manrique that is played here. And they are also selling the dvd if you want to bring it back home with you. I sat down and watched the documentary. I learned that Manrique wanted to promote “soft” tourism and that he called the resorts “monsters”. And boy did he do a lot for the tourism in Lanzarote. That island is magical to this day. No huge hotels or resort areas that are ruining the beach front.

More places should have people like Cesar Manrique that take care of the environment and makes sure that the land is not ruined. The way he interpreted tourism with nature is amazing and inspiring.

The Studio workshop of Cesar Manrique

Even if the house itself is one of the coziest and friendliest houses that we have ever been to, the fact is that Manriques studio is the most touching place. This place is left, as it was. There are a lot of half-finished artwork and odd things laying around. Paintings that are on the floor – still waiting to be finished. Brushes in glasses where the liquid has since long evaporated. It is heartbreaking to see.

The studio is big and with a lot of windows. This was important since Manrique wanted to paint with the help of the natural light. The only thing added here is a tv. It is playing a video, showing Cesar Manrique working and creating new pieces. It is a shame that we will not be able to see him create new things anymore.

Information about the Cesar Manrique house museum

Address: In the small village of Haria. There are signs so it is easy to find once in town.
Opening hours: Daily 10.30 – 18.00.
Entrance fee: 10 euro for the House. If you want you can pay 15 euros and get the entrance to both the house and the Cesar Manrique Foundation in Tahiche. We recommend you to visit both places.

Morbid tourism – in the footsteps of Cesar Manrique

For people that have not visited Lanzarote, the fascination about Cesar Manrique, might be hard to understand. However, if you go to Lanzarote you will find out what all the fuzz is about. After being to several of his attractions on the island, you might want to know more and see more by this artist. One thing that is really popular is morbid tourism. We have written a post about it if you want to know more about that.

When it comes to morbid places about Cesar Manrique, the roundabout where he died and his resting place are the places you can visit. We decided to go to both of those places and pay our respect to the artist. It turned out that we had been driving in the roundabout several times before without knowing that this was the place where he died.

Cesar Manriques resting place – visit his grave

While walking inside Manriques house, I got to think of where he might be buried. After a quick google search, I found out that he has his resting place in Haria, not far from the house. And be prepared to meet some more people there, walking around, looking for Cesar Manriques final resting place. The cemetery is not that big but there are many graves here. At first, we started out by walking around, looking at all the names. After a while, we gave that up and I started googling to find out where his grave was.

There is a big palm tree in the middle of the cemetery (slightly to the left). That palm tree was planted when he died as a small plant. Today it is a big tree. Just head for the palm tree and you will find Cesar Manriques resting place. T
his place will probably not be crowded but at the same time, there might be more people here than just you.

The roundabout where Cesar Manrique died

LZ-1 roundabout in Tahiche is the place of the tragic accident that took the artists life. And what makes it even sadder is, that the place is literary just outside of the Cesar Manrique Foundation. He had been there and was on his way home when he got into the accident. Usually, there is a wind toy sculpture in the middle of the roundabout but during our visit, it had been taken down.

We could only see the reinforcing bars that use to hold the artwork in place. And this is not a place where you would want to lit a candle or even make a stop. The road here is heavily trafficked so this is just a place that you can pass if you want to see it.