San Cristóbal de La Laguna (commonly known as La Laguna, ) is a city and municipality in the northern part of the island of

Tenerife Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the Archipelago, archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitant ...

in the

Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, also Province of Santa Cruz ( es, link=no, Provincia de Santa Cruz de Tenerife), is a province of Spain, consisting of the western part of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands. It consists of abou ...

, on the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, :es:Canarias, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. The city is the third-most populous city of the archipelago and the second-most populous city of the island. La Laguna's historical center was declared a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

in 1999. In 2003 the municipality started an ambitious Urban Plan to renew this area, that was carried out by the firm AUC S.L. (Arquitectura Urbanismo y Cooperación). The city was the ancient capital of the Canary Islands. La Laguna lies right alongside the city of

Santa Cruz de Tenerife Santa Cruz de Tenerife, commonly abbreviated as Santa Cruz (), is a city, the capital of the island of Tenerife, Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and capital of the Canary Islands. Santa Cruz has a population of 206,593 (2013) within its ad ...

; thus, the two cities and municipalities form a single large urban center, linked by tram. The city is home to the

University of La Laguna The University of La Laguna (ULL; Spanish: ''Universidad de La Laguna'') is a public research university situated in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, on the island of Tenerife, Spain. It is the oldest university in the Canary Islands. The universi ...

which is home to 30,000 students; these are not included in the population figures for the city. La Laguna is considered to be the cultural capital of the Canary Islands. Also there is in the habit of being calling the "''Ciudad de los Adelantados''", for having been the first university city of the archipelago. Its economy is business-oriented while agriculture dominates the northeastern portion of the city. The urban area dominates the central and the southern parts. Tourism covers the northern coast. The main industry includes some manufacturing. The industrial area is made up of the main subdivisions of Majuelos, Las Torres de Taco, Las Mantecas and Las Chumberas. In this city one finds the legendary house of the spectre of

Catalina Lercaro Catalina Lercaro (Catherine Lercaro), 16th century, was an Italian-Canarian woman of the Lercaro family, renowned in the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna (Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain). The Lercaro were an important family of Genoese merc ...

, as well as the

incorrupt Incorruptibility is a Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox belief that divine intervention allows some human bodies (specifically saints and beati) to completely or partially avoid the normal process of decomposition after death as a sign of thei ...

body of Sor María de Jesús, and the Christ of La Laguna ( Cristo de La Laguna). Another emblematic building of the city is the

Cathedral of La Laguna The Cathedral of San Cristóbal de La Laguna or ( in Spanish) is a Roman Catholic church in Tenerife, Spain. Begun in 1904 and completed in 1915, it is dedicated to the Virgin of Los Remedios (patron of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Cristóba ...

, which is the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

cathedral of Tenerife and its diocese (

Diocese of Tenerife In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

). Other important historical figures of the city were Amaro Pargo, one of the famous corsairs of the Golden Age of Piracy, and

José de Anchieta José de Anchieta y Díaz de Clavijo (Joseph of Anchieta) (19 March 1534 – 9 June 1597) was a Spanish Jesuit missionary to the Portuguese colony of Brazil in the second half of the 16th century. A highly influential figure in Brazil's h ...

, Catholic saint and missionary and founder of the cities of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaW ...

and

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. In 2010, after a survey, La Laguna was listed as the city with the best reputation in the Canary Islands and the third provincial capital city of Spain with the best reputation, behind Gijon and

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the reg ...

Etymology

At first the place where the town was called "Aguere" by the aboriginal

Guanches The Guanches were the indigenous inhabitants of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean some west of Africa. It is believed that they may have arrived on the archipelago some time in the first millennium BCE. The Guanches were the only nativ ...

(the name is still used in the literature). Later he founded the city as "Villa de San Cristóbal de La Gran Laguna" (in memory of a pond or lake that was in place). Later he established the San Cristóbal de La Laguna, and today is known simply as "La Laguna" (the lake).

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was granted by Queen

Joanna of Castile Joanna (6 November 1479 – 12 April 1555), historically known as Joanna the Mad ( es, link=no, Juana la Loca), was the nominal Queen of Castile from 1504 and Queen of Aragon from 1516 to her death in 1555. She was married by arrangement to P ...

on 23 March 1510, as arms of the island of

. The town of La Laguna, being the capital of the island during the first times after the Conquest, adopted this emblem as its own. It features an island with a volcano spitting fire, on waves, between a castle and a lion, and above the Archangel

Saint Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

, holding a spear in one hand and a shield in the other. In the border, the inscription ''Michael Arcangele Veni in Adjutorium Populo Dei Thenerife Me Fecit''. These elements symbolize the incorporation of the island of

to the

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accessi ...

and its

evangelization In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are ...

under the patronage of

Subdivisions

*La Verdellada *Viña Nava *El Coromoto *San Benito *El Bronco *La Cuesta *Taco *Tejina *Valleguerra *Bajamar *Punta del Hidalgo *Geneto *Los Baldios *Guamasa *El Ortigal *Las Mercedes *El Batan *Las Carboneras *San Diego *Las Gavias

Climate

Owing to its northerly aspect that captures moisture from the prevailing northeasterly winds, San Cristóbal de La Laguna has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

( Köppen: ''Csb'') that contrasts with the

arid climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in deser ...

of other cities on the Canary Islands, with three to five times more rainfall than on the southern slopes, around ten percent less sunshine, and about ten percent higher humidity throughout the year. In spite of its elevation, the maritime and subtropical influences keep the temperature above frost at all times.

History

The place where the city is built belonged to the

Menceyato de Anaga Anaga was one of the 9 menceyatos guanches (native kingdoms) in which was divided the island of Tenerife ( Canary Islands, Spain) before the arrival of the conquering Spaniards. The area of the menceyato is now part of the municipalities of San ...

, which was one of nine aboriginal Guanche kingdoms on the island until the

Kingdom of Castile The Kingdom of Castile (; es, Reino de Castilla, la, Regnum Castellae) was a large and powerful state on the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region. It began in the 9th ce ...

's conquest. It is also known that the whole valley of Aguere (where the city lies) and especially the large lake that was in this place, was a place of pilgrimage for the aborigines of the island. The

Battle of Aguere The Battle of Aguere, or Battle of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, was fought between forces of the Crown of Castile, led by the Adelantado (military governor) Alonso Fernández de Lugo, and the natives of Tenerife, called Guanches. The battle took pl ...

was fought here in 1494. The city was founded between 1496 and 1497 by

Alonso Fernández de Lugo Alonso Fernández de Lugo (; died 1525) was a Spanish military man, conquistador, city founder, and administrator. He conquered the islands of La Palma (1492–1493) and Tenerife (1494–1496) for the Castilian Crown; they were the last of the C ...

and was the capital of the island after the conclusion of the conquest of the islands. Later the city also became the capital of all of the Canary Islands. In 1582, the city suffered a virulent

black plague The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causin ...

epidemic that produced between 5,000 and 9,000 deaths. The layout of the city, its streets and its environment are elements shared with colonial cities in the Americas and

Old Havana Old Havana ( es, link=no, La Habana Vieja) is the city-center (downtown) and one of the 15 municipalities (or boroughs) forming Havana, Cuba. It has the second highest population density in the city and contains the core of the original city of ...

in Cuba,

Campeche Campeche (; yua, Kaampech ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Campeche ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Campeche), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. Located in southeast Mexico, it is bordered by ...

in Mexico,

Cartagena de Indias Cartagena ( , also ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a link ...

in Colombia, or

San Juan de Puerto Rico San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...

, among others. Since the urban plan of the city of La Laguna was the model for these

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-e ...

cities. The coastal area was later raided by pirates. The

was founded in 1701. A declining population and economy in the 18th century resulted in the transfer of the capital to

in 1723. Santa Cruz has since been the capital of the island of Tenerife and the sole capital of the Canary Islands until 1927, after which the capital of the archipelago has been shared with the city of

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the auto ...

. The

Tenerife North Airport Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...

at Los Rodeos was opened in the 1930s and is today expanding with low cost airlines using it. It was declared a

on 2 December 1999. Several streets of historical significance have been closed off to automobile traffic. La Laguna has often been called the «

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

of the Canary Islands», this is due to its large number of churches and convents, as well as its old town and historic buildings. Also due to the fact that the city was the cradle or seat of different artistic and cultural movements then exported to the rest of the Canary archipelago, especially in the religious sphere as in

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

, or having been the cradle in the Canaries of the movement of the Enlightenment, also called the «Century of Lights». This favored the emergence especially in the

Baroque period The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires includin ...

(XVII-XVIII centuries) of notable sculptors, painters and architects who exercised their trade in the city and sometimes exported their works to the rest of the archipelago. Several tunnels, passages and underground vaults dating from the immediate aftermath of the founding of the city era have recently been found. These tunnels sometimes lie under very iconic buildings such as the Iglesia de la Concepción, the

and the former Convent of San Agustín, among others. Researchers believe that the present city of La Laguna has been raised, because now it does not have the same ground level as at the time of its founding. In some places it is more than one meter higher and buries what is underneath.

Main sights

: with a neoclassical façade (1819). * Iglesia de la Concepción: It was the first parish to be built on the island of Tenerife. * Old City: It is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, because the layout of its streets has served as a model for the construction of some of the main Latin American capitals. There are many colonial-style buildings there, with their wooden balconies and magnificent tree-lined courtyards that occupy the center of the building. We can also visit several, richly planted with trees and flowers. * Real Santuario del Santísimo Cristo de La Laguna: It is one of the most important temples in the city and on the island, as inside is the venerated image of Christ, very popular in the archipelago. *

: The first university founded in the Canary Islands. * Casa Anchieta: It is the birthplace of Saint José de Anchieta, considered by the Catholic Church as an Apostle of

. * Salazar Palace: It is the palace of the Salazar de Frías Family, currently it works as the bishop's palace of the

. Inside the building, the Bishopric Chapel stands out, the fruit of the work of an international and ecumenical group led by the Slovenian Jesuit, Marko Ivan Rupnik with a neo-Byzantine mosaic that represents the mystery of

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers ...

. * Nava Palace: It is an example of Canarian architecture that combines Baroque, Neoclassical and Mannerist elements. * Church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán: It is one of the oldest churches in the city, in it is the tomb of the famous corsair Amaro Pargo. * Instituto Canarias Cabrera Pinto: The oldest secondary school in the archipelago still in use. * Teatro Leal: Built in 1915. * Plaza del Adelantado: The city's main square surrounded by many interesting buildings: the town hall (''Casa del Corregidor''), the Nava Palace, the Santa Catalina de Siena convent, the San Miguel Arcángel hermitage. * Museum of the History of Tenerife: (''Palacio Lercaro'') Museum that presents the history of the island from the 15th century to the present day. The museum is also known for the alleged appearances of the ghost of

, a young woman from the 16th century who committed suicide.

Folklore

La Laguna is home to some well known folklore in the Canary Islands. La Laguna has created around folklore groups.

Festivals and holidays

Romería de San Benito Abad

The Romería Regional de San Benito Abad, this is a popular romeria that is considered the most representative of the Canary Islands, which involves groups coming from all corners of the archipelago. The second Sunday of July is celebrated. She is also considered among the most important romeria in Spain. Courtship is carried through the streets in which people are dressed in traditional costumes and decorated with typical products bullock carts. Along the way throughout the city there are also Canarian folk music.

Holiday of the Cristo de La Laguna

It is celebrated every 14 September in honor of a much venerated image of Christ in the Canary Islands, the Cristo de La Laguna. For this event come people from all over the archipelago. It is the leading holidays in town.

Holy Week

Holy Week in the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna is the largest of the Canary Islands. Holy Week has steps of great historical and artistic value, such as the aforementioned Cristo de La Laguna, accompanied by their guilds, some of them centuries old and which adopted the use of the hood in the nineteenth century, ride on the wheeled carts streets of the city.

Sister cities

, Colombia *

, Brazil *

Telde Telde is a town and a municipality in the eastern part of the island of Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, overseas (Atlantic) insular Spain. It is the second most populous municipality on the island, with a population of (2013).

, Spain *

Colima Colima (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Colima ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Colima), is one of the 31 states that make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima. Colima i ...

, MexicoEl acto de hermanamiento de la ciudad de Colima con San Cristóbal de La Laguna se celebra el próximo 2 de mayo.
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People

(19 March 1534 – 9 June 1597), saint and important in the early colonial history of

Juan Núñez de la Peña Juan Núñez de la Peña (May 1641 – January 3, 1721) was a Spanish historian. Born in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, he studied Latin and the humanities in the college of San Agustín de La Laguna and was subsequently ordained priest. He worke ...

(1641–1721), a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

* Amaro Pargo (1678–1747),

corsair * José Rodríguez de la Oliva (1695-1777): sculptor and painter of

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including ...

Cristóbal Bencomo y Rodríguez Cristóbal Bencomo y Rodríguez (San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain, 30 August 175815 April 1835, Sevilla, Spain) was a Spanish Catholic priest and confessor of King Ferdinand VII of Spain. Bencomo was the driving force behind the cre ...

(1758-1835): priest, confessor of King

Ferdinand VII of Spain , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Charles IV of Spain , mother = Maria Luisa of Parma , birth_date = 14 October 1784 , birth_place = El Escorial, Spain , death_date = , death_place = Madrid, Spain , burial_p ...

and

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Heraclea. *

Juan Domingo de Monteverde Juan Domingo de Monteverde y Rivas (born Juan Domingo de Monteverde; 2 April 1773 15 September 1832), commonly known as Domingo de Monteverde, was a Spanish soldier, governor and Captain General of Venezuela from June 1812 to 8 August 1813. Mont ...

(1773–1832), military man *

Oscar Domínguez Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology ...

(9 January 1906 – 31 December 1957), Spanish

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

and

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

Antonio Cubillo Antonio de León Cubillo Ferreira (3 June 1930 – 10 December 2012) was a Canarian Independentist, politician, lawyer and militant of the Canary Islands. Biography Cubillo was born on 3 June 1930 in San Cristóbal de La Laguna. He was married ...

(3 June 1930 - 10 December 2012), revolutionary and politician *

Suso Santana Jesús Manuel 'Suso' Santana Abreu (born 2 March 1985) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a right winger. He started his professional career with Tenerife, but was loaned several times to lower league teams until the end of his con ...

(2 March 1985-), footballer *

Sergio Rodriguez Sergio may refer to: * Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio * Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found * ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass * ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film * ''Se ...

(12 June 1986-), basketball player * Cristo Reyes (30 July 1987-), darts player *

Ana Guerra Ana Alicia Guerra Morales (born 18 February 1994), better known as Ana Guerra, is a Spanish singer. She rose to prominence when she took part in series nine of the reality television talent competition ''Operación Triunfo'', where she finishe ...

(1994-): singer. Famous for being a contestant of the television program

Operación Triunfo ''Star Academy'', called ''Operación Triunfo'' ("Operation Triumph") in Spanish-speaking countries, is a highly successful television pop music talent contest with viewer voting and reality show elements. Format There are many versions of t ...

2017.

References

External links

*http://www.aytolalaguna.com
Organismo Autónomo de Deportes de La Laguna
featuring information about activities, installations, news, etc. (in Spanish) *https://www.facebook.com/ParaMiLaLagunaEs/ {{DEFAULTSORT:San Cristobal De La Laguna World Heritage Sites in Spain Populated places established in the 1490s Tourism in Spain Municipalities in Tenerife