SANTA IGLESIA CATHEDRAL

This building was built in 1515 on the former church of Nuestra Señora de los Remedios, still by order of the conqueror of Tenerife, Alonso Fernández de Lugo. It became a cathedral in 1818 and was completely rebuilt at the beginning of the 20th century. Only the neoclassical pediment from 1820, modelled on the Cathedral of Pamplona, remains. The current church, inaugurated in 1913, is in neo-Gothic style, with cross vaults of ribbed vaults, based on the plans of the engineer Rodrigo de Vallabiga, who has completely preserved the main façade. Inside, the church also stands out for its neo-classical choir (19th century), its large monstrance carved in silver and gilded in the Rococo style, its numerous goldsmith's items and for its important collection of sacred ornaments. Don't miss the tabernacle sculpted by the Canarian Luján Pérez and the great baroque altarpiece of Los Remedios (18th century) which features seven tablets that would have been painted by Hendrick Van Balen, Van Dyck's master, and the tomb of Alonso Fernández de Lugo. There is also a superb Carrara marble pulpit, work of the Genoese sculptor Pascuale Bocciardo, dated from the 18th century, and a painting representing the Last Supper of Juan de Miranda. Not forgetting the sculpture of Nuestra Senora de la Luz, the most beautiful sculpture in the Cathedral, which is attributed to Juan Bautista Vazquez el Viejo, founder of the Sevillian school of the 16th century, and which is kept in the Cathedral Museum, which also houses an important collection of sacred ornaments.