San Juan or María Cristina Battery

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Sites of memory · Year: 1889

This battery, traditionally known as San Juan, was adapted and renamed María Cristina in honour of the queen regent at the end of the 19th century; a historical moment characterised by possible external threats amid colonial expansionism promoted by the main European powers.

Studies for the adaptation of the new battery were carried out at the beginning of 1889. It was then that some open-field elevated land, located between private estates and overlooking the Lazareto bay, was prepared.

Little is known about the building structure of this battery, only that, designed to house howitzers, it had three artillery pieces.

On 20 October 1939 the complex collapsed on its left flank due to a powerful explosion caused by poor custody of the ammunition stored there. Partially ruined, the battery and its adjoining lands were ceded in 1942 to the Refinery, henceforth becoming part of the industrial facility's grounds.

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