Interior of the Cathedral of Santa Ana

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Architecture · Subcategory: Religious architecture

The interior of the Cathedral is very austere, highlighting the architectural aspects, with large stained glass windows designed by the canons themselves in the 17th century, and the images by Luján Pérez. Marks of masonry made by the stonemasons who worked here can be seen. The choir, according to a project by Diego Nicolás, was finally completed by José de Luján Pérez. It was later removed in 1964, in an action by Bishop Pildain. Today it is located on the facade of the Episcopal Palace facing Muro street.

In the dome there are sixteen wooden sculptures by Luján, painted in the colour of the stone, representing the twelve apostles and the four evangelists, of very interesting workmanship.

The pedestal on which the altar stands is new (Fábregas, 1990-95) and at the back the niche covered by a Gothic altarpiece is revealed, which is now in the chapel of San Jerónimo and features Saint Anne and the Virgin according to the work of the sculptor José de Armas, commissioned by Bishop Pildain.

The Cathedral has six chapels on each side, plus the new chapel dedicated to San Jerónimo and the central one. It has a prominent transept in the plan. In the chapel of La Dolorosa stands out the image by Luján, which, free of dramatic expression, represents a beautiful Canarian woman. In the chapel of San José is the image of the Saint, also by Luján, and there is buried José de Viera y Clavijo, a great polygraph and collector of our history; in the chapel of Nuestra Señora de La Antigua, another beautiful image by Luján, Bishop Pildain is buried, and in the chapel of the Tabernacle, the only Canarian bishop, Verdugo. The monument of the Tabernacle has a silver front by Damián de Castro (Córdoba goldsmithing, 17th century). The chapel dedicated to San Gregorio and San Fernando is double and corresponds to that of Santa Teresa on the opposite side. In it can be seen the sculpture representing San Fernando, patron saint of Seville, by the Canarian sculptor Alonso de Ortega. The chapel of San Jerónimo houses the altarpiece that was in the main altar and also the chapel where Bartolomé Cairasco de Figueroa, canon and prominent 16th-century poet, is buried. The chapel of Santa Teresa is neoclassical, with an extraordinary attached column with a Baroque base; it contains the pantheon of León y Castillo, liberal minister of Sagasta, who approved the start of the works of the port of La Luz. The pantheon, with many symbols alluding to overseas territories, is a design by a sculptor from the Luján Pérez School, Eduardo Gregorio, and the architect Miguel Martín Fernández de la Torre. The Chapter Hall is the ecclesiastical equivalent of the Plenary Hall of the Ayuntamiento. Presiding over the hall is the Christ of the Chapter Halls (Luján Pérez, 1793) which enjoys great fame.

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