Galdosian route: 08. The Church of San Francisco

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · Category: Routes · Subcategory: Galdosian route

Galdós' elder brother, Domingo, took over the responsibility of being godfather to Benito at his christening which took place two days after his birth at the nearby church of San Francisco. The parish bells undoubtedly chimed in delight to celebrate the newborn child; the same bells might just have known that years later, this little baby receiving holy waters, would immortalize them with these deeply felt words:

Bachiller Corchuelo: Where were you christened? 

Galdós: At the church of San Francisco, which was in a convent... Listen up. I am going to tell you the strangest thing. Whenever I heard the clanging of its bells, I have always felt a mixture sadness and sweetness. I would never confuse its sound with another. I would be able to distinguish it from another hundred bells ringing at the same time.

(Taken from the interview done with Galdós by Bachiller Corchuelo in the magazine Por esos mundos. July 1910, included in La tierra de Galdós (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 2003).

These last words have been inscribed in the stone bell tower following its restoration, at the turn of this century. The bell tower dates from the 17th century, the result of the reconstruction of the primitive convent church of San Francisco burnt down by Dutchman Van der Does in 1599. Following its expropriation, the convent was turned into a military barracks, and around the middle of the 20th century it was demolished. The Conservatorio Superior de Música was built on the land, the work of architect F. Chueca.

 

 

28.103355254554, -15.417493231865