The Church Housing the Cross That Founded Santa Cruz

The Spanish conquistadors landed on the coast and erected a first chapel. The Iglesia-Parroquia Matriz de Nuestra Señora de la Concepción was built upon this original site. It serves as the main center of worship in the city of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and is often called the Cathedral of Santa Cruz, although the actual cathedral is located in the neighboring town of La Laguna.

Construction began in 1500 on a church dedicated to the Holy Cross founded by Father Juan Guerra. It was one of the first churches built on the island of Tenerife, situated near the place where the first Christian mass was held after the founding of the city. The church is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary and houses the image of St. James, the patron saint of the city.

The building is home to the cross that gave rise to the founding of the city. It also contains a relic of St. Clement I, a Pope and Martyr donated by the Patriarch of Antioch, which has been highly revered in the city. Additionally, the church houses a pipe organ brought from London in 1862 and a small Gothic fifteenth-century image of Our Lady of Consolation, the first Virgin to be venerated in Santa Cruz.

As a site of cultural interest, the church features a Baroque and Tuscan architectural style. Its bell tower remains its most emblematic element. The structure is unique in the Canary Islands as the only church with five naves, standing as a historic monument of the region.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons