The town of San Cristóbal de la Laguna in Tenerife

San Cristóbal, the oldest city of Tenerife, was founded on the banks of the lake, called Aguere by Aborigines, who occupied the valley at that time. In a few years this became a fertile plain prairie.

Its historic center, one of the most characteristic examples of the type of urban structure that was developed in Latin America during the colonization process, keeps intact its grid-like layout. It was in the late sixteenth century and during the reign of Felipe II that Torriani engineer drew up the plan of La Laguna.

Its model colonial layout includes some of the most important religious monuments of the island, including its cathedral, and a host of stately houses of the seventeenth and eighteenth century, typical Canarian style, with remarkable colors, with their wooden balcony and beautiful mature patios that occupy the building of the center.

The layout of its streets has been the model for the construction of some major capitals of Latin America, and for this reason, the historical center of La Laguna was ranked in 1999 as World Heritage Site by Unesco.

In the seventeenth century (in 1618 precisely), Bishop Antonio Carrionero built the tower of the building and in the eighteenth century, several chapels are decorated inside.

The church of Los Remedios became a cathedral in 1818, during the separation of the bishopric of the Canaries, with the creation of the Bishopric of Tenerife (Diocese of Nivaria) after a bull of Pope Pius VII.

In 1897, the church was in ruins and it was destroyed. The current building, neo-Gothic style, was erected between 1904 and 1915. It has three naves with ribbed vaults on the plans of the engineer Rodrigo de Vallabiga. We only kept its neoclassical facade built in 1820 on the model of Pamplona Cathedral built by architect Ventura Rodríguez.

In 1916, we built the right turn. The façade is a reconstruction of 1825 neoclassical inspired plans of the cathedral of Pamplona, ​​of Ventura Rodríguez.

The cathedral has an interesting heritage. In the sanctuary is a tabernacle carved in 1795 by the sculptor from Gran Canaria José Luján Pérez and is topped by a statue anonymous (sixteenth century) of Cristo Crucificado, the Cristo de Los Remedios.

See also the great baroque altarpiece of Los Remedios in the first half of the eighteenth century, which has a magnificent set of seven tablets that were painted by Hendrick Van Balen, the master of Van Dyck, according to the curator, specialist in Flemish painting the Prado Museum, Matías Díaz Padrón. These tablets were part of the altarpiece Mazuelos and they were commissioned in Flanders by Pedro Afonso Mazuelos in 1597.

There is another interesting altarpiece, that of El Señor de La Columna, classical style (which would of Martin de Vos, the collaborator of Tintoretto (Il Tintoretto)).

The church also has a beautiful chair in Carrara marble by sculptor Genovese Pascuale Bocciardo in 1762, a large painting called Las Animas del Purgatorio the Canarian painter Cristóbal Hernández de Quintana (1651-1725) and the painting of La Santa Cena de Juan de Miranda.

Among the statues should be mentioned:

• La Virgen de Los Remedios, polychrome wood from the early sixteenth century, which would be the first of sacred art created in Tenerife.
• El Cristo atado a la Columna (Genoese school, eighteenth century).
• Nuestra Señora de Los Dolores Spanish sculptor Carmona (eighteenth century).
• A statue of Christ the sculptor from Tenerife Fernando Estévez.
• A magnificent statue of Nuestra Señora de la Luz, the most beautiful statue of the entire cathedral, whose author is the master Juan Bautista Vázquez el Viejo, who was behind the creation of the Seville school of the sixteenth century. This statue is kept in the Cathedral Museum.

The church is also distinguished for its neoclassical choir (nineteenth century) directed by Domingo Pérez; his great monstrance carved silver surdoré rococo; its waves procession of Corpus Christi in embossed silver; numerous gold objects from the school of Cordova, the Canary Islands and the American school and its important collection of sacred ornaments.

Visit :

Plaza Fray Albino, s/n 38201 San Cristóbal de la Laguna (Tenerife).

The interior can not be visited due to restoration works.

The original church underwent successive extensions and modifications over the following centuries. The biggest changes took place in the eighteenth century to the plans of the architect Diego Nicolás Eduardo. It was classified in 1948 national historic and artistic monument. In 1948 it was declared a national monument. It was rebuilt in 1974 after the collapse of his ships in the 60s.

The Church of the Immaculate Conception has the characteristic shape of Canarian temples, with three naves, arches and pine paneled ceiling Canarian Mudejar.

• Its pulpit is an anonymous Baroque piece carved in fine wood at the end of the eighteenth century, considered a unique jewel in its genre.
• The font ceramic fifteenth century Seville have great historical value, since legend has it that they were brought by the first governor and that they served to christen the first Guanches of Tenerife.

Among his sculptures must be mentioned:

• La Predilecta (La Dolorosa) of José Julán Pérez in the chapel of the Santísimo Cristo
• El Cristo del Rescate the Spanish late Gothic (sixteenth century)
• San Pedro and La Inmaculada Concepción, the last statue (around 1849) the sculptor from Tenerife Fernando Estévez (1781-1854)
• The group of La Piedad de Lázaro González (seventeenth century)
• A statue of San José (Genoese school of the seventeenth century)

Among his works are:

• The famous San Juan Evangelista de Cristóbal Ramírez that should have, apparently, observed blood exudation in 1648
• A large canvas by Cristóbal Hernández de Quintana (1651-1725) entitled Cuadro de las Animas.

The church also has a large collection of gold objects like the Great Monstrance of the Marquis of Bajamar and the Corpus Christi various altarpieces and a beautiful choir carved in the early eighteenth century by Rodriguez Bermejo.

Address: Plaza Doctor Olivera, s/n 38202 San Cristóbal de la Laguna (Tenerife)

Hours: Monday to Friday, 8 am 45 pm from 30 to 13 and 17 h 30 h 30-19. Saturday, 8 am 45 pm from 30 to 13 and from 17 am to 19 pm 30. Sunday and holidays from 7 am to 13 pm 45 30 and 16 h 30 to 20 h 30.

Prices: Free entry.

After extensive restoration work done by the Council of the island of Tenerife, the Cabildo, it was transformed into an exhibition hall.

Tour Schedule: when there is an exhibition.

The town hall has undergone numerous changes since the sixteenth century. The most important concerns its main facade was rebuilt in stone in 1822 by Juan Nepomuceno Conejo. This is definitely one of the best examples of neoclassical civil Canaries. The Village Hall was restored in 1888 by Rafael de Oráa.

The part of the building overlooking the street La Carrera and Obispo Rey Redondo kept the gate of the former residence of the Corregidor (former judge appointed by the king).

Found on its frontispiece the arms of Charles V and on each side, the image of Tenerife and weapons of the governor of the island Jerónimo de Sotomayor.

The plenary hall has a nice ceiling Canarian Mudejar caissons.

important relics are preserved there as:

• The standard qu’arborait the governor, or Adelantado, Alonso Fernández de Lugo when he conquered Tenerife for the Crown of Castile.
• Royal Decree 1510 of Queen Juana the Mad, which granted La Laguna the title of City.
• The arms which are also those of the island of Tenerife.
• Historical records which are among the most comprehensive in the archipelago.

Visiting hours: Monday to Friday from 9 am to 14 pm.

There are interesting baroque altarpieces, such as the sanctuary and of the Virgin of El Tránsito and an embossed silver stand.

On display in the monastery church, sculpture representing Santa Rosa de Lima, sculpted by Rodríguez de la Oliva.

Once a year, on 15 February, the convent opens its doors to show the faithful the intact body of the servant of God, Sister María de Jesús de León Delgado (1643-1731).

Visiting hours: Monday to Saturday from 7 am to 11: 45 pm, Sunday from 18: 30 am to 20 hours (possible visit of the inner courtyard).

This is for many an unusual example of Canary Island architecture because of the presence on the facade of a hybrid style, the result of a cross between Mannerism, Baroque and Neoclassicism. From its construction until the last work dated in 1776 by Tomás de Nava y Grimón y Porlier, fifth Marquis Villanueva del Prado, the palace was in fact accused the evolution and transformation of artistic sensibility in the past two centuries work and expansions.

The central main building stone, similar to the palace Salazar (now the Episcopal Palace) was built in 1681 by the same stonemasons.

At the time of the fifth Marquis de Villanueva del Prado is in this house that met the famous Tertulia de Nava, a group of intellectuals who had a great influence at the time of the Enlightenment.

At the center of the frontispiece, one can admire the stone crest of the Marquis of Villanueva del Prado.

Address: Calle de Nava y Grimón.

The construction of this house began in the early sixteenth century and was completed in 1545. Its façade has a beautiful portal red stone, one of the most representative examples of Plateresque style in the Canary Islands.

The name of this house is that it is here that housed the “Corregidores” ruled the island when (former judges appointed by the king). It is then qu’habita Bishop Joaquín Lluch y Garriga. It houses the offices of the Town Hall today.

Visiting hours: Monday to Friday from 9 am to 14 pm.

This house overlooking the Viana street and the street Obispo Rey Redondo, it has been restored recently. It has a portal and openings cut red tufeau the country and a nice courtyard. This is a home in a typical Canarian style.

La Casa de los Capitanes houses the Tourist Office, the Museum of the City of La Laguna, and the International Centre for Heritage Conservation.

Visiting hours: Tuesday to Saturday from 11 am to 13 pm and from 17 am to 20 pm. Monday from 17 am to 20 pm and Sunday from 11 am to 13 pm (only when there are exhibitions)

It now houses the archives and it is also the headquarters of the Instituto de Estudios Canarios. Its archives contain many interesting documents, relating especially to the family Anchieta, one of whose most famous member was the Jesuit José de Anchieta, born in La Laguna in 1534 and evangelizer of Brazil who founded the city of São Paulo.

This house can be visited from Monday to Friday from 8 am to 13 pm.

Address: Calle de San Agustín.

Lieutenant General of Tenerife Francisco Lercano de León ordered the construction of this house in 1593, which represents a fine example of civil architecture of the islands. Its main courtyard is unique compared to the architectural styles found in the Canary Islands because of the wooden statues of the first floor.

The facade of the house has a central main building in stone and you can admire the arms of the original owner. The finish of the walls that mimics bricks and Renaissance motifs, is also singular.

The different rooms all have a beautiful coffered ceiling; the main staircase, built with the same stones as those of the portico of the entrance and pilasters of the courtyard, has support a vault and a semicircular arc.

Eleven showrooms have different explanatory panels that provide an overview of the history of the island.

The large collection of maps of the Canary Islands, some dating back to the sixteenth century, and descriptions of various objects, presented inside the building is very interesting.

Address: Calle de San Agustín, 22.

Visiting hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 9 am to 19 pm - Monday closed.

Entry fee: 1.80 € 3 €, depending on age.

This building has been used repeatedly for educational purposes. It was there that the University of San Fernando with his law classes, true embryo of the University.

This is where is now the headquarters of the Real Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País, which has a beautiful library especially at the time of the Enlightenment, as well as archives of great value with funds the homes of Nava y Grimón, Tabares de Nava and the legacy of chronicler Rodríguez Moure.

The library can be visited from Monday to Friday from 16 am to 18 pm.

Address: Calle de San Agustín.

La Casa Salazar was the residence of the Counts del Valle de Salazar who ordered the construction in 1664. The facade is the work of Juan González de Castro Illada and was built in 1681 by masons Juan Lizcano and Andrés Rodríguez Bello.

For many, the sober, balanced lines of the façade to the baroque trend, make it one of the most beautiful of the civil architecture of the Canaries.

Before being bought in the nineteenth century to become the seat of the Bishop of La Laguna and accommodate the offices of the Curia, the palace housed the Casino El Porvenir and it’s on the piano of this club that Teobaldo Power composed a large part of her famous Cantos Canarios.

The interior is built around a courtyard with columns supporting the galleries. Important works of art were found there as paintings by Francisco Bonnin, of José Aguiar, of Mariano de Cossio, of Manuel López Ruiz and Martín González, and sculptures including busts of Bishops Rey Redondo and Fray Albino de Mariano Benlliure.

On 23 January 2006 the Bishop’s Palace was destroyed by a fire reduced to the state of ashes heritage of incalculable wealth; it should be rebuilt in the coming years.

Address: Calle de San Agustín.

It contains among others:

• A painting by Cristóbal Hernández de Quintana titled El Sueño de San José
• Half a relief of the birth of Christ of the seventeenth century
• An interesting painting, Ecce Homo of the Canary School and two sculptures by Antonio Maragliano.

Other paintings to see, we must mention the large painting on wood representing the Crucified with the Virgin and San Sebastián on either side of exquisite and one of the oldest brought to Tenerife.

Address: Calle de San Agustín.

Its construction was completed in 1560 and remains today different original architectural elements like the cloister red freestone; the courtyard, one of the most beautiful of the Canary Islands. Miguel de Unamuno stayed there.

It now houses the Institute of the Canary Islands has been for a long time the only center of secondary education in the Canaries. During the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth century, the islanders who would later become famous later there were educated as Benito Pérez Galdós, Bals Cabrera Felipe and Tomás Morales.

The Instituto de Canarias, the heir of the first University, also conserves important scientific collections and works of art among which we must mention the paintings of the Museum Romántico in Madrid.

Address: Calle de San Agustín.

The church, dedicated to St. John the Baptist, has a beautiful Mudejar coffered ceiling and an interesting heritage as the statues of La Dolorosa, San Juan and La Magdalena, brought from America in the eighteenth century. The church also contains two paintings of Juan de Miranda and a group of sculptures composed of the statue of El Señor del Huerto, the sculptor from Gran Canaria Luján Pérez, and that of Los Apóstoles Dormidos of Rodríguez de la Oliva.

Address: Calle de Nava y Grimón.

Visiting hours: 8 am to 15 pm and 17 pm to 19 pm 15 15 (advance notice).

It is distinguished for its high ceilings Mudejar coffered, his paintings of the Canarian painter Cristóbal Hernández de Quintana and its fresco paintings of Mariano de Cossio (1790-1860).

The bell tower is leaning against the walls of the convent of Las Dominicas now almost disappeared.

The temple also houses statues and significant gold objects:

• The Señor Difunto (sixteenth century).
• The Señor de la Humilidad y Paciencia (seventeenth century).
• The statue of La Inmaculada of Antonio Mario Maragliano, polychrome wood dating from the first half of the eighteenth century.
• The statue of San Miguel, 1577, which belonged to the hermitage of the same name and is revered as September 29 heritage of the island.

The gold objects mainly from the workshops that existed in La Laguna in the eighteenth century. It should include:

• The great monstrance designed by the sculptor José Rodríguez de la Oliva and cut by the goldsmith originally from Tenerife Ildefonso de Sosa, who is considered the most valuable piece of silverware throughout the Canaries.
• The throne of Holy Thursday.
• Stretchers silver of the Virgen del Rosario.
• The baptismal font is also interesting to see. They come from the old church of Los Remedios. It is in these fonts was baptized Blessed José de Anchieta, the founder of the city of São Paulo, whose baptism is still kept in the church.

Visit Information:

Address: Calle de Santo Domingo, s/n 38201 San Cristóbal de la Laguna (Tenerife)

Prices: Free entry.

Visiting hours: Tuesday to Saturday from 18 am to 19 pm 30. Sundays and holidays from 10 am to 12 pm and from 18 am to 19 pm 30.

It deserves a special place for that is what kept the patron of the city (San Cristóbal de La Laguna). Tradition has it that this is where lies the tomb of Fernando de Guanarteme, aboriginal converted the island of Gran Canaria, which was part of the cast of Fernández de Lugo during the conquest of Tenerife.

Address: Avenida de Calvo Sotelo.

Visiting Times: usually closed to the public.

Located in the district of San Benito, near the church of La Concepción, it was recently restored. It consists of a single nave, with a bow of red stone that frames the main door and typical Mudejar coffered ceiling, representative of many Canary temples.

Here we must emphasize the importance of the Feast of San Benito, celebrated every year in honor of the patron of shepherds and crops, one of the largest of the Canary Islands, held on the first Sunday of July.

Address: Calle del Marqués de Celada.

Visiting hours: hours of worship.

The church has only one nave, tall and narrow, about 46 m long and 7 m wide. You enter through a door located under the upper choir. The altar features a wall of money pushed with the arms of the Marquis of Villanueva del Prado. The back wall is occupied by a large canopy in silver with a central niche.

On wooden background carved and gilded this niche lies the cross of Saint-Christ; above and as a coronation is a small ancient sculpture, polychromed of San Miguel de las Victorias.

The cross, covered with silver plated roughly hewn, is a gift of Francisco Bautista Pereira de Lugo, lord of the islands of La Gomera and El Hierro, in 1630. The old cross, which is substituted by one, is kept in the choir under the convent of the Poor Clares.

The statue is carried in procession twice a year: on the feast of the city (September 14) where it is transported to a silver cross, and when the procession Friday dawns saint on a simple wooden cross .

The church also contains an image of the Painful Canarian sculptor Rodríguez de la Oliva and another of St. Francis of Assisi, and an important legacy in silverware, mainly from the best workshops of La Laguna.

At present, the church has the rank of Royal Shrine, intense worship, and it was returned to the Franciscan community of the annex Convent of San Miguel de las Victorias.

Address: Plaza de San Francisco (Plaza del Cristo).

Visiting hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 7 am to 13 pm and from 16 am to 21 pm. Tuesday 10: 30 pm to 13 pm and from 16 am to 21 pm. Saturday and Sunday from 7 am to 21 pm.

From 1510 the city became the political and intellectual center of the island and the entire region. It is also here that was founded the first university in the Canary Islands in 1701 at the request of Pope Clement XI. And despite the fact that the city had to give up its status as capital in favor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, it has remained until today the religious and cultural center of the island.

In 1818 the city became a bishopric.

In 1975 the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) was established there.

In 1999 it was declared “World Heritage” by UNESCO.