The Castle of Santa Bárbara is located on the top of the Guanapay Volcano, in the Villa de Teguise. Is he oldest castle in the archipelago. It was raised on the foundations of a primitive tower of surveillance built in 1312 by Lancelotto Malocello in order to give coverage and protection for the inhabitants of Villa de Teguise against frequent attacks suffered by the population.

Attacked on several occasions and damaged, it was reformed by the Italian engineer Leonardo Torriani in 1590. Its current appearance dates from works that were completed in 1596.

The Castle not only had the mission of being a Watchtower from which they sighted the piratical dangers coming from the sea, but its dependencies served as a refuge for the population, a dungeon for inmates and even military dovecote.

Devoid of its military character, since 1991 it houses the Museum of Emigrante Canario, which offers information about this phenomenon so present throughout the history of Lanzarote and the Canary Islands.

In 2011 a new stage of the Castle is presented and it is transformed into an attractive museum on the history of piracy in the Canary Islands , this change is based on an idea as obvious as that the history of this building is marked by the successive invasions of pirates and corsairs.

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