CITY CENTER

Santa Cruz is a beautiful colonial city, particularly preserved and clean, which can be visited by strolling through its narrow streets lined with colourful houses. The city is very small, so you can easily walk around it. The charm of Calle O'Daly, named after an Irish banana merchant, does not leave one indifferent. This long paved and pedestrian street is lively in the morning and empties out at siesta time. The palaces and noble houses, which can be seen almost everywhere, mostly date from the 17th and 18th centuries, and many 16th century churches punctuate the city. Paved alleys and tile-roofed houses complete the picture. The most beautiful residences are located on the seaside on Avenida Maritima, some of which are more remarkable, with yellow, pink, blue or ochre facades, and always with characteristic pine balconies. The Plaza España is of great beauty and faces a splendid house with a glass balcony, the Renaissance-style arcaded facade of the 16th-century Town Hall, not forgetting the El Salvador Church, dating from the very beginning of the 16th century and which welcomes the Virgin of Las Nieves every 5 years.

In the middle. Starting from Avenida Maritima, you can start the visit by going to admire the colourful houses and their beautiful balconies. Go up Calle O'Daly and Calle Pérez de Brito, which used to form Calle Real and connect the port with the Alameda (garden), where you will find the Naval Museum, housed in a replica of a Christopher Columbus caravel. On the seafront, a string of colourful old houses with typical balconies form one of the most beautiful ensembles in the city. You can also walk up Avenida del Puente, visit the market and discover the Santo Domingo district.

To the north of the city, the church of Santo Domingo dominates a large square. The neighbouring convent now houses a college. Overlooking the port, in the small square of Nuestra Señora de la Luz, discover the touching church of San Telmo, patron saint of fishermen. Dating from 1550 and rebuilt in 1675, it has a balcony façade and a remarkable Baroque altarpiece. Following Calle Nuestra Señora de la Luz, we come to the Plaza de San Sebastián, shaded by a large palm tree, where the church of the same name from the sixteenth century stands. Crossing the barranco de las Nieves, the Encarnación district, to discover on its way the castle of La Virgen, which still displays the cannons that were used to defend the city. From the esplanade, enjoy the beautiful view of the nave of Columbus and the Plaza de la Alameda. Continuing on, a little further up, we find the Plaza de la Encarnación, a true haven of peace, and the church of the same name.

On the seafront, to the north of the city, the Santa Catalina Castle, or Castillo Real, also dating from the 16th century, was once part of the fortifications that protected the city from attacks by pirates, especially French ones. Not far away, on the Plaza de la Alameda, on the edge of the Las Nieves barranco, stands a gazebo that houses a bar-ice bar. At the end of the square, in front of the statue of a dwarf, a traditional carnival character, you can see a strange bellied sailboat: it is the nave of the Virgin, a life-size reproduction of Christopher Columbus' caravel, the Santa Maria. This one houses the naval museum. Continuing on, we will have a beautiful view of the city from the viewpoint of La Concepción, beyond La Cuesta.