Castle of San Pedro

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Memory · Subcategory: Sites of memory · Year: 1656

It was one of the most important fortresses built along the coastline of Santa Cruz, participating in the defence against all significant attacks the city suffered throughout its history.

The Castle of San Pedro was built in 1656 at the initiative of the general commander Alfonso Dávila de Guzmán. Of trapezoidal plan, it perched on a basaltic cliff jutting into the sea, located near where the passenger station of the port is today. It covered the coastal arc between Paso Alto and the Castle of San Cristóbal, from which it was about 200 metres apart.

In 1741 it was renovated and expanded in its facilities by the military engineer José de Adonaegui, and again between 1793 and 1795, this time by the engineer Luis Marqueli. Its plan was changed to become a circular arc of 36 varas with two straight parts. The building was situated on the rock itself and was battered by the sea at the foot of its wall which rose eight metres. It had an esplanade enclosed by a parapet of rubble masonry and ashlar, open for the gunports. The defensive wall that ran along the entire coastal line of the bay passed through this castle.

In 1904 a project was approved to convert it into accommodation for engineer troops, for which a double bay was built on the main façade and two simpler ones supported at the end of the first, forming a circular arc. The remaining undeveloped plot was ceded to the Ministry of Development (Ministerio de Fomento) to build the communication ramp between the port dock and the San Andrés road.

In the mid-20th century, the Fort of San Pedro became a real obstacle to plans for the development of the port and the urban road to be built parallel to it, which would later become Anaga Avenue. The relocation of the Engineer Command to La Cuesta between 1944 and 1948 cleared the way for the demolition of this fortress that had rendered such good service.

28.469992, -16.247286