Catedral de San Cristobal de La Laguna

In the historic center of the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1999, stands its Holy Cathedral Church. It has its origins in the 16th century after its construction as the Parroquia de los Remedios, hence its current dedication. It will not be until the year 1819 when it is erected as the Cathedral. At the beginning of the 20th century it was completely rebuilt until it reached its current state. At the time it was built and consecrated as a cathedral, the island’s capital was in the city of La Laguna, as was the diocesan headquarters that still remains in this city. Hence the fact that the cathedral is located in this city and not in the current capital of the island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife. In 1511, in the current location on Plaza Fray Albino, a hermitage was erected by order of the conqueror Alonso Fernández de Lugo. There are indications that a Guanche necropolis existed in that place. It is also known that the entire valley of Aguere where the city extends and mainly the great lake that was in this place, was a place of pilgrimage for the aborigines of the entire island. In 1752 a new transept was built and the Main Chapel was widened with large sacristies and dressing rooms for the image of the Patron Saint, the Virgen de los Remedios. The neoclassical façade dates from 1820 and was built according to the plans of the Pamplona Cathedral . The current structure of the temple was built between 1904 and 1915 and is in the neo-Gothic style. The cathedral, built with a concrete structure, was one of the first buildings in Spain to use this material, which is currently used extensively in all kinds of buildings. However, being a a new material at the time, the technology was not too developed, so it had numerous defects that have led to the need to undertake extensive repair and improvement works, these deficiencies are currently fully remedied after the last great restoration of the temple.