Logbook · 10 places

What to see and do in San Cristóbal de La Laguna

What to see and do in San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife - Área Metropolitana, Santa Cruz de Tenerife): 10 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 4 Monuments · 2 Curiosities · 3 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of San Cristóbal de La Laguna

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Spain › Canary Islands › Santa Cruz de Tenerife › Tenerife - Área Metropolitana › San Cristóbal de La Laguna

What to see and do in San Cristóbal de La Laguna

San Cristóbal de La Laguna
Village
Founded on 27 July 1496 by the adelantado Alonso Fernández de Lugo in the Aguere valley, it was the de facto capital of the archipelago until 1833 and the seat of the Captaincy General of the Canary Islands between 1656 and 1723. Its historic centre was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999 for being a unique example of an unfortified colonial city, with a rational urban layout that served as a model for numerous American cities. The old lagoon that gives the city its name was drained and disappeared for good in 1837. Charles V granted it the title of Ciudad (city) in 1531.
Catedral de San Cristóbal de La Laguna
Monument
It began as a hermitage erected in 1511 by Alonso Fernández de Lugo, replaced in 1515 by a Mudéjar-style church raised to parish status. A papal bull issued by Pope Pius VII on 21 December 1819 made it a cathedral when the Diocese of Tenerife was created. Its neoclassical façade dates from 1820, and the current neo-Gothic concrete structure was built between 1904 and 1915; a restoration carried out from 2002 to 2014 renewed its 41.5-metre-high dome using polypropylene fibres. It houses a Carrara marble pulpit by Pasquale Bocciardo and a Baroque altarpiece with paintings attributed to Hendrick van Balen.
Real Santuario del Santísimo Cristo de La Laguna
Monument
The first Franciscan convent on Tenerife, built between 1506 and 1580 by order of the adelantado Alonso Fernández de Lugo. A fire devastated it on 28 July 1810, though the image of the Christ was saved; the rebuilding was directed by Friar Antonio Tejera. The carving, made of Flemish wood, is attributed to the Belgian sculptor Louis Van Der Vule (16th century). King Alfonso XIII granted the sanctuary the title of Real (Royal) on 19 December 1906. It houses an 18th-century Baroque silver altarpiece and, since 2014, one of the most exact replicas in the world of the Shroud of Turin. Its main festival is held on 14 September.
Casa de los Capitanes Generales
Monument
Also known as Casa Alvarado-Bracamonte, it was built by the governor Diego de Alvarado-Bracamonte, who lived in it between 1624 and 1635. It owes its name to the fact that six captains general of the Canary Islands lived there between 1705 and 1723. Its façade is of red tuff stonework, with asymmetrical windows and a central courtyard. Declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection), category of monument, on 11 November 1981, it now houses the La Laguna City Council, the tourist office and the CICOP.
Universidad de La Laguna
Historical milestone
Its roots go back to 1701, when the Augustinians obtained papal authorisation to grant degrees at their convent in La Laguna. Charles IV formally founded the Universidad Literaria de San Fernando by royal decree of 11 March 1792, the first university institution in the Canary Islands. After it ceased to exist in 1845, the Universidad de La Laguna was reorganised as a modern university by royal decree of 21 September 1927, becoming the country's twelfth university district.
IES Canarias Cabrera Pinto
Curiosity
A secondary school founded by royal order on 21 August 1846, heir to the Universidad Literaria de San Fernando (which had ceased to exist in 1845). It was the only secondary school in the whole archipelago for seventy years, until one was created in Las Palmas in 1916, and it held the first provincial library and the first meteorological station in the Canary Islands. It is the oldest secondary school still operating in the archipelago.
Casa Salazar
Monument
A palace acquired in 1891 by Bishop Ramón Torrijos y Gómez from the 8th Count of Valle de Salazar to turn into an episcopal seat. It has had proceedings open for declaration as a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) since 1982. An accidental fire gutted its interior on 23 January 2006, leaving only the stone façade standing; after three years of restoration funded by public and private contributions, it reopened in 2009 with a renewed interior.
Tumba del corsario Amaro Pargo en Santo Domingo de Guzmán
Curiosity
Amaro Rodríguez Felipe, "Amaro Pargo", a sailor and merchant from La Laguna born in 1678, became famous across the Atlantic for his trade with America and the legends of hidden treasure surrounding him. He died in his home city on 14 October 1747 and was buried in the convent of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, where his tombstone, bearing a skull and crossed shinbones, can still be seen.
Epidemia de peste de 1582
Historical milestone
In 1582 an outbreak of Black Death ravaged La Laguna, then the de facto capital of the Canary Islands, causing between 5,000 and 9,000 deaths according to the sources.
Junta Suprema de Canarias de 1810
Historical milestone
During the French siege of Cádiz, the Junta Suprema de Canarias met in 1810 in the gardens of the Palacio de Nava, in La Laguna, and went on to govern temporarily the Spanish territories not occupied by Napoleon.