Tenerife's first Christian church

Founded in 1496, the Church of St James is a Roman Catholic parish church in the town of Los Realejos, Tenerife. After the Conquest of the Canary Islands, Alonso Fernández de Lugo decided to build a shrine to Saint James the Apostle as a token of gratitude. It is believed that in 1496, a simple structure covered with a straw roof was erected, making it the first Christian church on Tenerife. On the feast day of the saint in 1496, nine Gaunche kings were baptized, including Adjona, Añaterve, and Beneharo.

Records from the period no longer exist, but the church is mentioned in the 1542 writings of bishop Diego de Muros. While it began as a humble structure, the current door on the north face, known as the "Jacobean doorway," dates to 1570. In 1604, the same master who had made that doorway was commissioned to dismantle what became known as the "Old church" and build the new one. This construction expanded the single nave and opened the chapels on both sides of the transept.

The church was declared a national monument of Spain by Royal decree in 1983. Since the 17th century, the building has undergone various expansions, including the completion of the "nave del Evangelio" in 1610 and the "nave de la Epístola" in 1626. In 1922, the stonework in the arches and columns was replaced with concrete, and the nave was expanded again in the 1960s.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons