Castillo de San Cristóbal Interpretation Centre

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Cultural spaces · Subcategory: Museums · Year: 2008

The "Castillo de San Cristóbal" Interpretation Centre, managed by the Autonomous Organisation of Museums and Centres of the Tenerife Island Council, is an interpretative proposal that allows visitors to discover and contextualise the remains of the wall of the disappeared Castillo de San Cristóbal and learn more about the history and defensive system of the island.

In June 2006, during the remodelling works of Plaza de España, remains of what was the old Castillo de San Cristóbal, the main defensive bulwark of the city and by extension of the island, appeared. Given the historical importance of the find, it was decided to protect and enhance this resource by incorporating into the original Plaza de España project, designed by the Swiss architectural team Herzog & de Meuron, an underground gallery that was adapted to make it visitable.

The Centre, inaugurated on 24 July 2008, exhibits the defensive system Tenerife had, making a journey not only through the castles of Santa Cruz, but also those distributed throughout the rest of the island geography, some of which still stand today, such as San Felipe in Puerto de la Cruz or San Miguel in Garachico.

Since 25 July 2009, it has an attractive addition: the mythical cannon " El Tigre " is exhibited. It is an 18th-century bronze cannon, cast in Seville, about 3 metres long and weighing 2000 kg. To enhance this historic space, "El Tigre" was moved from the Canary Islands Military History Museum, where it was kept, to be displayed here in a specially prepared room.

This new temporary location is ideal for the emblematic cannon, not only because it is an exceptional piece illustrating the centre’s exhibition narrative, but also because it is now located very close to the place where, in the early hours of 25 July 1797, it thwarted the British aspirations to seize the city of Santa Cruz. Although historically unprovable, popular tradition holds that it was "El Tigre" that wounded the famous English admiral Horatio Nelson, taking his arm. A symbol of that deed, this cannon has endured in the memory of the people of Tenerife and has been mentioned, reproduced and imagined ever since as one of the most powerful metaphors and allegories of the courage and feelings of the people of Tenerife.

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